A man is found dead in a bathtub with an immersion heater lying in the water. Autopsy shows no entry or exit electric marks anywhere on the skin. Which factor best explains the absence of an electric mark?

• A Death occurred before current could flow through the body
• B Wet skin offers very low resistance, so current passed without producing sufficient local heat to mark the skin ✓
• C Electric marks never form below 220 volts
• D Immersion in water destroys any electric mark that had formed

Explanation

Dry skin has high resistance and local heating at the contact point produces the electric mark. When the skin is wet, resistance falls drastically, allowing lethal current to traverse the body while dissipating minimal heat at the contact sites, so no mark forms. Such marks can certainly occur at domestic voltages, and water does not erase an existing mark.

Reference: Parikh's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 7th ed.

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.