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Labial Impressions: A Tool for Identification

Abstract

Umesh Bindal, Priyadarshni Gogia Bindal and Nurul Athikha bt Ramli

Background: First recommendation to use lip prints as one of the tools in the court of law was done by France’s greatest criminologist Edmond Locard. The study was aimed to determine the differences in labial impression among races in Malaysia and to note if there is any change over a time period. Methods: The study recruited 60 subjects, consisted equal ratio of male and female subjects from the three races of Malaysia. The labial impressions of an indian subject was studied over a period of eight years. The lip prints were obtained on the strip of bond paper and was analysed using the Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification. Results: It was observed that Type II (72.50%) was the predominant pattern in Indian race and the least observed pattern was type III (33.75%). Type I′ (71.25%) was the most common pattern observed in Malays race and the least observed pattern was type I (12.50%). Type III (87.50%) was the most common pattern observed in Chinese and the least observed was type IV (0%). There was no change in lip print pattern over a period of eight years. Apart from the features mentioned according to the classification some additional features were noticed and these features were consistently followed and there was no changes observed over a period of eight years. Conclusion: The lip prints have potential in determining the race and sex of an individual. Since lip prints is different in every individual, so it can be used as a method for personal identification which may give contributions in crime scene investigations.