Can This be Suicidal Pact or Dyadic Deaths?

Abstract

Attached

duction; In suicide pact,two or mbre individuals agree arid plan tocommit suicide^They die together, or separately fa. - closely timed. Suicidal pacts are common among married or romantic partners, family members, or friends. Whereas, dyadic death refers to an incident where homicide is followed by the perpetrator's suicide. Case report: An Indian couple was found dead inside an air-conditioned room in a hotel in Sri Lanka. Theyhad come to * Sri Lanka one week priortothe incident on vacation. The bodies were found on a bed with whitish coarse froth around the mouth. Female body was found longitudinally and the male body was found transversally on the bed. His head was on the lower limbs of the female body. The female body was neatly covered with a bed sheet up to the upper half. The scene was not disturbed and there was a half a oottle of soft drink on a table. White colour crystals were found inside a bag. Autopsy revealed that the female was pregnant. Both bodies had bright pinkish colour hypostasis. Early putrefactive changes were identified in the female body and rigor mortis was completed in the male body. Toxicological analysis revealed cyanide compounds in both bodies, bottle of soft drink and white crystals in the bag. Conclusions: Though the two bodies were exposed to the same environmental conditions, they showed different post mortem changes. It may be due to individual factors or different time since deaths. Therefore, based only on medical evidence,differentiation ofsuicidalpactfromdyadicdeathwasverydifficult.