An elderly man is found dead in a locked, unventilated attic in peak summer in Rajasthan. The body shows brown-black, dry, leathery skin adherent to the underlying tissues, shrunken facial features, and absence of putrefactive odour. Which process has occurred?

• A Mummification ✓
• B Adipocere formation
• C Saponification
• D Maceration

Explanation

Mummification results when hot, dry air dehydrates the body before bacterial putrefaction can proceed, producing a dry, leathery, brown-black cadaver with preserved contours. Adipocere and saponification are essentially the same hydrolipid process requiring moist conditions, and maceration describes softening of a fetus in utero in sterile amniotic fluid, none of which fits a dry attic.

Reference: Knight's Forensic Pathology, 4th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.