Sex Estimation from Foot Dimensions in an Indigenous Indian Population

Abstract

Dismembered/severed human remains are frequently found in cases of mass disasters and criminal mutilation. Sex estimation from foot dimensions, therefore, has a vital role in establishing personal identity. There is a paucity of literature on this issue from various Indian populations. The "Rajbanshi" is one such indigenous population located in the state of West Bengal, India. The present study attempts to estimate sex from foot length, foot breadth, and foot index among 350 living adult Rajbanshi (175 men and 175 women) individuals (age range: 18-50 years). The study concludes that foot dimensions show significant sex differences. Both sectioning point and regression analyses can be used to estimate sex from foot dimensions. However, multiple regression models appear to have the maximum accuracy in sex differentiation. Although statistically significant sex differences are evident for foot index, its practical utility appears to be limited because of considerable overlap.

Estimation of sex from the lower limb measurements of Sudanese adults

“…This finding is in accordance with previous studies, which used the same measurements, conducted in different populations of Egyptians [18], Turks [17,29], and Indians [13,30]. As expected, differences were found among populations when the mean tibial length, bimalleolar length, foot length, and foot breadth were compared with previously published studies (Table 7) [10, [16][17][18]22,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. This finding could be attributed to ethnic and regional differences because these dimensions can be affected by genetics, climate factors, physical activities, nutrition conditions, and shoe type [21,29].…”

“…The bimalleolar breadth index was 119.06 compared to 117.87 in the Egyptian population [18]. The index for foot length was 110.39, which was lower than the Mauritian [35] and Turkish populations (measured by Zeybek et al [29] and Ozden et al [34]), and higher than the Indian [22,30] and Nigerian [37] populations. The index was similar to the findings in the Turkish population, as measured by Ozaslan et al [17].…”

Determination of Sex From Foot Dimensions

“…[10,19]. Our study is comparable with Study by Sen on Bengali Rajbanshi population on 175 males and 175 females who reported a foot index of 41.3 in males and 40.5 in females on both right and left side [20]. A study on of Nigerian population observed higher foot index as in our study [19].…”

Stature Estimation from Footprint: A Study on Central Indian Population

“…Stature estimation is an important constraint in identification of mutilated and skeletal remains which could be helpful in the investigation of the identity of victims of mass disasters and fatal assaults cases [9]. Some previous studies have shown the relationship between various parts of the body with the stature and sex [10][11][12][13][14][15]. In forensic investigations, sex, age, and stature of an individual can be determined by the measurement of hand and foot dimension [10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…Some previous studies have shown the relationship between various parts of the body with the stature and sex [10][11][12][13][14][15]. In forensic investigations, sex, age, and stature of an individual can be determined by the measurement of hand and foot dimension [10][11][12][13][14][15]. Determination of stature is a major concern in forensic medicine and forensic anthropology which establishes the personal identity of the victims as often required [16].…”