Outlines of medical jurisprudence for India / by J.D.B. Gribble and Patrick Hehir.

  • Gribble, J. D. B. (James Dunning Baker), -1906.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Outlines of medical jurisprudence for India / by J.D.B. Gribble and Patrick Hehir. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    169/576 (page 139)
    linger or fingers, pulling out the eyes, &c. Mutilation, as a punishment, appears to have been prevalent throughout Asia, and is practised in China to the present day. Amongst the lower classes, cases of mutilation, such as cutting off the nose, the hand or an ear, are by no means uncommon, and occur generally on account of quarrels or jealousy regarding a woman. Gouging the eyes also occurs, and in former days the usual punishment inflicted upon royal princes who were guilty of rebellion was to deprive them of sight by passing a red-hot needle through their eyes. Gholam Khader gouged out the eyes of the Emperor Shah Alam, with his own dagger, and throughout the pages of Indian history numerous instances of this kind of punishment are to be found. Mutilation of the testicles is an exceedingly common offence, but it occurs generally in combination with some other injury, such as strangulation. The testicles are sometimes cut off, but more generally squeezed. In 1870 a case came before Mr. Gribble, as head-assistant magistrate, in which the district moonsiff of Sholinghur was charged with having'abetted the torture of a Brahmin boy, who was suspected of having stolen a jewel. Amongst other tortures inflicted to make him con- fess, it was proved that the sharp-pointed leaf of the date bush was pushed up the urethra, and that it was likewise used for puncturing the testicles. Considerable injuries were found on these parts by Dr. Silas Scudder, and the moonsiff, together with several others, was committed to the Sessions Court and convicted. 222. It is almost impossible for a medical witness to sav i ,i i i , , J Difficulty m de- whether or not a Iracture has been caused by a particular fining cause of weapon, and very often it is exceedingly difficult to state fraotnreL whether a fracture has been caused by a blow or by an accidental fall. Of course, when there are other attendant signs, he may be able to give an opinion that the fracture was caused by a blow. There are, however, so many cases of severe fractures occurring from falls whilst walking or in falling from a short |eight, that each case must, to a certain extent, depend upon its own circumstances. The bones vary in brittleness at