With the advancement and development of human society, the crime rate has also seen a rise. Among the different types of crime, one of the most common types of crime that is faced often is Homicidal Violence. Homicide is a kind of crime where a person is killed/ seriously wounded by another person by means of physical assault/ torture. Homicide cases may be of many types, one among them is stabbing. Stabbing is the most common type of Homicidal violence worldwide which involves a deep penetration by a sharp object onto the body of the victim. A stab wound is caused by the thrust of a sharp or blunt pointed instrument that produces a wound with greater depth than length.
ACCIDENTAL STABBING:
Stabbing is one of the most common homicidal crimes that has been encountered in recent days. Accidental knife injury is a type of injury where penetration of skin happens by a sharp object unintentionally causing injury. Now, here there is a difference between stabbing and Accidental knife wound. A homicidal stabbing is done intentionally with the purpose of causing harm and injury to the victim. On the other hand, accidental knife wounds are injuries that are caused by penetration of knife but without any intent/ motive.
HOMICIDAL STABBING:
A stabbing which is associated typically with multiple wounds, affecting the vital regions in most cases. An accidental knife wound is different from a homicidal stabbing in many ways. Accidental knife wounds usually have a different appearance than a stabbing wound. Stabbing wounds are generally deeper and are likely to be more harmful and injurious in nature. Due to intent, homicidal stabbings are often found to have multiple incisions on the body of the victim. Studies have shown most cases were homicidal (78.4%), while accidental accounted for 21.6%. This establishes that most cases involving knife injuries are homicides rather than accidental.
TRAUMA TYPE:
Stabbing always is an injury which involves deep gashes on the body, rupturing the skin, muscles and blood vessels. Stabbing injuries are of greater depth than length on the victim. Here now comes a vital difference to differentiate an accidental stabbing from homicidal stabbing. Studies have found that an accidental stabbing is found to be comparatively not so deep and, in most cases, have a singular trauma wound. On the other hand, homicidal stab wounds are of much more depth and the trauma wounds are multiple in number, since homicidal stabbings are done with an intent to harm or even cause death.
CONCLUSION:
Here, we must understand the proper difference between a stabbing and an accidental knife injury wound. In many cases, it is upon the forensic experts to determine whether a case of knife penetration is intentional stabbing or an accidental injury. It can be determined by various means such as the type of injury, depth of penetration and eyewitness account. Worldwide studies show that chance of an accidental knife injury is very less than that of a homicidal stabbing, hence we can say that in any case of death/ serious injury involving a knife, a homicidal stabbing is more probable than an accident.
By Suparno Bhattacharjee