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in Journal of Health Research ISSN 2394-3831

Research Article
(Vol.1 Issue 3) Indexed Journal

The Study of Rigor Mortis for Estimation of Time since Death

1* 2 3 4
Maroti Dake , Pawan Tekade , Ashesh Wankhede , Manish Shrigiriwar

1*
2
Asst. Prof. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Dr. S. C. Government Medical College, Nanded (MH)
Asso. Prof. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, SBKM Government Medical College, Jagdalur (CG)
3
4
Prof. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, SBKM Government Medical College, Jagdalur (CG)
Prof. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Dr. V. N. Government Medical College, Yevatmal (MH)

Email: mddake@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The time since death is of utmost importance in solving mysterious
medico- legal problems. The question related to time of death is almost unavoidable and has
to be answered with reasonable degree of accuracy. A total of 204 cases were studied with
respect to appearance, full development and complete disappearance of rigor mortis along
with age, sex and clothing of the cadavers. It was observed that the rigor mortis
develops early in smaller group of muscles and has a cranio-caudal progression.
At the extremes of ages rigor mortis appears and pa sses off earlier than adult
age. Gender of the cadaver does not affect signific a ntly on appearance and
disappearance of rigor m ortis. The purpose of this study was to study
feasibility of rigor mortis for estimation of time since death and to study
various factors affecting it.
Key words: Rigor Mortis, Time since death, age, sex.
*
Address for correspondence:
Maroti Dake, Dr. S.C. Government Medical College, Nanded
Email: mddake@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION
T he Philosophers of old and great men of
Medicine have recorded different changes
after
1
death in human body for thousands of years
. The ultimate role of Forensic expert is to
interpret the last mute message of the deceased
not only in criminal or suspected cases but also
in civil cases and one of the means of doing it is
to determine the exact time of death.
The estimation of the time of death is
notoriously one of the most difficult and
inaccurate technique in Forensic pathology and
various evidences must be correlated with each
other in order to arrive at some sensible time
bracket within which the death could have
2
occurred. Since primeval time, various factors
are considered for the determination of time
since death and the triad of Livor mortis, Algor
mortis and Rigor mortis have served as
cornerstones for that cause.
Other criteria for estimation of time lapse since
death are study of changes in eye, study of
putrefactive changes, study of entomology of
cadaver etc. Many other sophisticated methods
have been developed for determination of time
lapse like biochemical investigation of CSF,
vitreous humour, synovial fluid, spectroscopic
study of stains of lividity etc. No doubt the
newer and sophisticated procedures are invented
to ascertain the exact time of death but it may
not be always possible to carry out these lengthy
and exhaustive investigations in each and every
case.
There is abundance of available information and
literature to estimate time since death. Though
the rigor mortis is used as a conventional
parameter to determine time since death, it has
not been studied to a great deal specially in this
part of our country. Therefore the present study
was undertaken to evaluate rigor mortis as a
parameter to estimate time interval from death.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
1. To study feasibility of rigor mortis for
estimation of time since death.

1* 2 3 4
How to site this article: Maroti Dake , Pawan Tekade , Ashesh Wankhede , Manish Shrigiriwar
The Study of Rigor Mortis for Estimation o f Time since Death
Journal of Health Research Mar-Apr 2015; 1(3): 67-70 http://www.sarfhealth.in
 The Study of Rigor Mortis for Estimation o f Time since Death

2. To study various factors affecting it.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The present study was conducted at Indira
Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur
from December 2006 to November 2008. The
cases which were brought for medico-legal
autopsy in the mortuary were included in the
present study. Only those cases where the exact
time of death was documented were included in
the study. Total 204 cases were included for the
study purpose. The preliminary data of each
case was recorded from the police inquest and
indoor case papers.
The recordings related to rigor mortis were
started as soon as the body reached the
mortuary and subsequent every hourly until the
body was present in the mortuary. The time of
appearance of rigor mortis, its stay,
disappearance and the sequence of appearance
and disappearance in various muscle groups
were noted. The level of rigor mortis was
studied whether it was slight, moderate or full
stiffness in various muscle groups. The testing
of rigor mortis in different parts of body was
done as follows.
• In the eyes, by gently lifting the eyelids
with pulp of finger.
• In the face, by gently depressing the lower
jaw.
• In the neck, by anterior - posterior and
bilateral movement of neck.
• At various joints, by performing passive
movements particular of that joint.
All the recorded data was compiled, coded and
analysed statistically.

RESULTS
Table 1: Showing Course of Rigor Mortis in various muscle groups (N = 204)
Muscle Full Complete
Appearance Disappearance
group development disappearance
acting on Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
joint (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD)
Eyes 1-06 2.5(1.1) 2-10 5.5(1.8) 08-31 16.8(4.6) 11-34 19.8(5.2)
Face 1-07 2.8(1.3) 3-12 6.5(2.0) 08-32 17.5(4.8) 12-35 20(5.3)
Neck 1-07 3.4(1.4) 2-15 7.3(2.1) 09-33 17.4(5.0) 12-37 20.9(5.6)
Shoulder 1-08 3.8(1.5) 3-15 7.7(2.4) 09-34 18.1(5.0) 13-39 21.9(6.0)
Elbow 1-08 4.2(1.5) 4-16 8.1(2.4) 10-34 18.5(5.0) 13-39 22.8(6.2)
Wrist 1-09 4.7(1.7) 4-16 8.9(2.8) 10-35 19.3(5.2) 14-41 24.8(6.8)
Finger 1-12 6.3(2.3) 4-17 9.8(2.9) 11-37 20.8(5.5) 15-41 26.2(6.4)
Trunk 1-10 4.9(2.2) 3-15 7.9(2.6) 09-35 18.8(5.6) 11-38 22.0(6.4)
Hip 1-10 5.0(2.0) 3-15 8.0(2.4) 10-35 19.1(5.5) 12-39 22.6(6.4)
Knee 1-11 5.4(2.0) 4-17 8.4(2.5) 10-41 20.3(6.0) 12-41 24.0(6.8)
Ankle 1-11 6.0(2.0) 3-18 9.2(2.8) 11-37 20.6(5.7) 14-41 25.6(6.8)
Toe 1-13 6.7(2.3) 3-18 9.9(3.0) 11-37 21.5(5.9) 17-41 27.26.8)

Table 2: Showing Distributions of Cases According to Age and Gender with Course of Rigor Mortis in Different Age
Group
Full Complete
Gender Appearance Disappearance
Age group development disappearance
(years) Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
Male Female Total
(Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD)
Up to 10 01 03 04 1-06 2.6(1.3) 2-09 5.2(1.6) 10-18 15.2(2.5) 17-20 18.0(1.1)
11-20 06 05 11 1-09 3.8(2.3) 2-14 6.9(2.9) 12-19 15.2(1.8) 14-19 18.6(1.5)
21-30 38 19 57 1-11 4.5(2.0) 2-16 8.0(2.4) 13-31 18.8(4.2) 15-38 23.2(5.8)
31-40 35 09 44 1-12 4.7(2.4) 2-18 8.1(2.9) 08-41 19.8(6.8) 11-41 24.5(7.1)
41-50 30 05 35 1-13 5.7(2.4) 3-16 9.5(2.8) 14-41 22.5(7.4) 15-41 26.3(7.7)
51-60 23 05 28 1-10 4.5(1.9) 3-17 7.6(2.5) 12-30 17.7(4.4) 15-37 21.2(5.8)
Above 60 14 11 25 1-10 4.3(2.0) 3-14 7.0(2.0) 12-27 17.6(3.0) 15-31 20.9(4.0)
The course of rigor mortis in the study cadavers muscles of toe in order of cranio-caudal fashion
were observed according to muscle groups only to appear late in fingers of hands having
acting on various joints. (Table 1) It was mean time of 6.3 & SD of 2.3. It lastly appeared
observed that the mean time of appearance of in muscles of toes having mean time 6.7 hrs. and
rigor mortis in eyelid muscles was 2.5 hrs. with SD was 2.3. The full development, start of
SD of 1.1. The time of appearance gradually disappearance and complete disappearance of
went on increasing from muscles of eyelid to rigor mortis from various muscle groups

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 The Study of Rigor Mortis for Estimation o f Time since Death

followed same course in increasing order of time
as it followed for appearance of rigor. It lastly
disappeared from fingers and toes having mean
time 26.2 hrs. SD was 6.4 and 27.2 hrs. with SD
of 6.8 respectively. The ANOVA test was
applied which showed that there was significant
difference in all the parameters studied within
the groups. The p value was less than 0.05 for all
groups.
While considering the age of the deceased in
relation to rigor mortis (Table 2), it was
observed that the mean time taken for
appearance, full development, start of
disappearance and complete disappearance was
found to be gradually increasing with the
advancing age up to fifth decade and declined
thereafter. The minimum mean time of
appearance was 2.6 hrs with SD of 1.3, full
development 5.2hrs with SD of 1.6, start of
disappearance 15.2hrs with SD of 2.5 and
complete disappearance 18 hrs with SD of 1.1
was observed in age group of upto 10 years of
age while the maximum mean time of
appearance 5.7hrs with SD of 2.4)], full
development 9.5 hrs with SD of 2.8, start of
disappearance 22.5hrs with SD of 7 and
complete disappearance 26.3 hrs with SD of 7.7
was observed in age group of 41 to 50 yrs of
age. The statistical analysis by applying
ANOVA test showed the significant p value (<
0.05) for various age groups.

Table 3: Showing Effect of Sex on Rigor Mortis (N = 204)

Full Complete
Appearance Disappearance
Sex development disappearance
Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
(Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD)
Female 1-12 4.2(2.3) 2-17 7.3(2.8) 10-41 18.5(6.1) 15-41 22.8(7.4)
Male 1-13 4.8(2.2) 2-18 8.3(2.7) 8-41 19.0(6.0) 11-41 22.6(6.1)

Table 4: Showing Effect of Clothing on Rigor Mortis (N = 204)

Complete
Appearance Full development Disappearance
No of disappearance
Clothing
cases Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
(Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD)
Covered 83 2-12 4.6(2.3) 2-18 8 (2.9) 8-37 19.5(5.8) 11-41 23.8(7.4)
Dressed 76 1-11 4.5(2.2) 2-15 7.8(2.6) 10-41 18.2(5.7) 14-41 21.7(6.2)
Both 45 1-13 5.0(2.2) 2-17 8.2(2.6) 12-28 18.9(4.0) 15-32 23.5(4.7)

Table 5: Showing Effect of Cause of Death on Rigor Mortis (N = 204)

Full Complete
Appearance Disappearance
Cause of death No of Development disappearance
Cases Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean
(Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD) (Hrs.) (SD)
Head injury 64 1-12 5.0(2.2) 3-17 8.8 (2.7) 10-30 19.5(4.4) 15-37 24.0(5.6)
Poisoning 51 1-13 4.7(2.3) 2-16 7.8 (2.9) 8-41 17.3 (5.8) 11-41 20.6(7.1)
Pulmonary consolidation 19 1-11 4.3(1.8) 3-14 7.9 (2.2) 15-28 18.3 (3.0) 18-28 20.9(2.6)
Intracranial haemorrhage 15 1-11 4.5(2.4) 2-15 7.6(3.0) 12-41 21.9 (6.8) 15-44 26.6(7.0)
Injuries to vital organs 14 1-9 4.0(1.8) 2-13 7.5 (2.4) 10-29 21.2 (5.6) 16-33 26.6(4.7)
Shock due to trauma 10 1-9 4.3(1.9) 3-13 7.4 (2.2) 14-24 17.8 (2.6) 17-31 22.8(3.5)
Blunt trauma chest 8 1-9 3.7(2.1) 4-12 7 (2.1) 12-18 15 (1.7) 16-24 18.4 (2)
Injury to spine 7 1-9 4.7 (2.0) 4-13 8.1 (2.0) 14-19 16.7 (1.5) 18-24 20.5(1.9)
Snake bite 6 1-10 4.0(2.2) 3-14 6.9 (2.6) 12-18 14.9 (1.9) 14-20 17.4(1.9)
Blunt trauma abdomen 5 2-12 5.7 (2.4) 2-22 9.5 (4.7) 13-37 24.2 (9.5) 16-41 29.2(1.4)
Pulmonary tuberculosis 5 1-11 4.6 (2.7) 2-15 7.5 (3.5) 13-20 16.9 (2.5) 16-30 22.2 (5.4)
Table no 3 depicts the effect of gender on rigor occurred in mean time of 4.8 hrs with SD of 2.2
mortis. In the females, mean time of appearance while full development occurred in mean 8.3 hrs
of rigor mortis was 4.2 hrs with SD of 2.3 and with SD of 2.7 and disappearance started at
that of full development was 7.3 hrs with SD of mean time of 19 hrs with SD of 6 while
2.8. The Rigor mortis started disappearing in complete disappearance occurred in mean 22.6
mean time of 18.5 hrs with SD of 6.1while hrs and SD of 6.1. This was verified statistically
complete disappearance of rigor mortis was by applying the ‘t’ test which showed that the p
observed in mean time of 22.8 hrs and SD of value of comparison of rigor mortis in male and
7.4. The appearance of rigor mortis in males

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 The Study of Rigor Mortis for Estimation o f Time since Death
female was more than 0.05 i.e. it was not
significant.
Table no 4 shows the effect of clothing on rigor
mortis. It was observed that there was no much
difference in the time taken for appearance, full
development, starting of disappearance and
complete disappearance of rigor mortis from
dressed and covered bodies.
It was also statistically proved by applying
ANOVA test that the p value was more than
0.05, which was not significant.
Considering the effect of cause of death on rigor
mortis (Table no 5), it was observed that the
appearance of rigor mortis was early in death
due to snake bite (mean 4 hrs and SD of 2.2),
blunt trauma chest mean 3.7 hrs and SD of 2.1),
injury to spine (mean 4.7 hrs and SD of 2),
poisoning mean 4.7 hrs and SD of 2.3),
pulmonary consolidation (mean 4.3 hrs and SD
of 1.8) and pulmonary tuberculosis (mean 4.6
hrs with SD of 2.7). While in cases that died due
to head injury (mean 24 hrs and SD of 5.6),
intracranial haemorrhage (mean 26 hrs and SD
of 6.7), injuries to vital organs (mean 26.6 hrs
and SD of 4.7), shock due to trauma (mean 22.8
hrs and SD of 3.5) and blunt trauma abdomen
mean 29.2 hrs & SD of 10.4) the time of
disappearance of rigor was late. The application
of ANOVA test showed that the p value for
disappearance of rigor mortis for various groups
was less than 0.05 which was statistically
significant. The ANOVA test showed no any
statistical difference between appearance, full
development and start of disappearance of rigor
mortis i.e. p value was more than 0.05.
DISCUSSION
The application of medical knowledge for the
disbursement of the justice is one of the essences
of modern day investigations. In the medico
legal autopsies, apart from opining about the
cause of death and mode of death one important
question to be answered is the time elapsed
between death and post-mortem examination.
Many a time it serves as the sole factor to
resolve the mystery of death in unattended
criminal cases.
It was observed that the rigor mortis first
appeared in the muscles of the eyelids then the
muscles of face i.e. lower jaw were involved
then subsequently it appeared in the muscles of
neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, trunk, hip, knee
and ankle. Lastly the muscles of finger and toes
were involved in the process. The same course
was followed for full development and
www.sarfhealth.in Journal of Health Research, ISSN 2394-3831, Volume 1, Issue 3
disappearance indicating the proximal-distal
progression of rigor mortis. The sequence of
appearance and disappearance of rigor mortis in
the present study was consistent with the
literature of other authors
(2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17, 19, 20)
The reason for the cranio-caudal progression
may be that the rigor mortis is detectable early
in small masses of the muscles much more
easily than large masses. (10, 19) The late
appearance of rigor in fingers and toes may be
due to the reason that fingers and toes are
attached to the limbs by means of tendons and
ligaments extending from forearm and legs
respectively. The morphologic and dynamic
features between joints might strongly affect the
speed of progress of rigor mortis. Thus the
fingers and toes rigidity was fully appreciated
when the formers became rigid. Also these are
relatively smaller and exposed parts of the body
which get cooled early hence developing rigor
late. (16, 17, 18)
In the present study, the average time duration
of commencement of rigor mortis was in
agreement with the other authors (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11,
12, 13)
But those were not consistent with the
findings of Dalal J. S et al.(6) In present study
time required for appearance, full development
and disappearance of rigor mortis was earlier
than the findings of Dalal J S et al.(6) This could
be because in this part of country the mean
temperature of the year remains more compared
to the northern India where Dalal J. S et al (6)
had conducted their study. The environmental
temperature has direct effect on the development
of rigor mortis as cold delays the process of
rigor mortis and raised temperature hastens it. (4,
5, 6, 8, 9, 16, 17, 19, 21, 25)
In the present study it was observed that the
rigor mortis was early to appear in extremes of
ages and its duration was also shorter. Our
findings were consistent with the findings of
other authors (3, 4, 8, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 ) The
reason might be that less muscle mass in
extremes of ages and the development of rigor
mortis is affected by lean body mass. (4, 5, 7, 13, 14,
23, 25)
In the present study it was observed that there
was no significant difference as regards to
commencement, full development and
disappearance of rigor mortis between male and
female gender.
In our study rigor mortis was found to appear,
reach to full development, started disappearance
and completely disappeared more or less at the
82
 The Study of Rigor Mortis for Estimation o f Time since Death

same time in dressed bodies and covered bodies.
The findings in the present study correlate with
the findings of Dalal J. S. et al, Camps F. E.,
Karmakar R. N, Dikshit P. C. The presence of
apparels and wearing indirectly influence the
onset and progress of rigor by their effect on
body temperature and the rigor mortis is said to
appear slightly early in well covered body than
naked bodies. (13, 15, 19) In the present study all the
cases included were hospital admitted and well
attended, hence it was observed that all the
bodies were covered or dressed, and there were
no naked bodies. This could be the reason why
clothing did not showed much effect on course
of rigor mortis in the present study.
In the present study it was also observed that
rigor mortis appearance was early in cases
where death was due to snake bite, blunt trauma
to chest, injury to spine, poisoning, pulmonary
consolidation and pulmonary tuberculosis.
While in cases where death caused by head
injury, intracranial haemorrhage, injuries to vital
organs, shock due to trauma and blunt trauma to
abdomen the time of disappearance of rigor
mortis was late. The findings in this study were
in accordance with that of other authors. (3, 6, 7, 14,
20, 21, 22, 23)
The present study sample consist
mostly the cases of trauma and poisoning which
in combination represent maximum number of
cases in the study hence the difference of
appearance, full development and start of
disappearance of rigor mortis in various causes
of deaths may not be significant statistically.
CONCLISION
1. The time since death can be estimated to a
reasonable degree of accuracy by observing
the appearance, development and
disappearance of rigor mortis in various
groups of muscles.
2. The progression of rigor mortis in various
muscle groups has cranio-caudal sequence.
3. The gender of the cadaver does not affect
significantly the course of rigor mortis.
4. The appearance and disappearance of rigor
mortis was earlier at the extremes of ages.
5. The course of rigor mortis was not much
affected by clothing of cadaver.

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