'Dead drunk' in desert; Woman dies of headache: How Dubai forensics tell

A corpse lying in the desert surrounded by alcoholic beverage cans.

That was all the information Dubai Police received from a group of Asian men who reported it to the operating room.

A woman complaining of headache went to the hospital and then died shortly after. Again, that was all Dubai Police had to begin with.

Using these two cases, Major Dr. Khaled Hassan Buraiki of the General Department of Criminal Evidence and Criminology at Dubai Police, explains, in an interview with ‘Al Bayan’ how the police “de-code and solve such cases”.

“In the first case, one theory was that alcohol abuse leads to a decline in the function of breathing that could lead to death.”

“Also, the body of the man showed exposure to injuries and abrasions that also suggested a crash due to a state of extreme drunkenness.

“There were no knife or stab wounds to suggest the occurrence of crime,”  Maj. Dr. Buraiki says.

Decoding the puzzle

Maj. Dr. Buraiki then explains that Dubai Police turned to forensics and forensic medicine.

The crime scene was studied and a full autopsy and examination of the body followed.

The results showed pressure on the head of the deceased, suggesting it was placed in the sand, thus preventing the entry of air into the respiratory canal, resulting in death.

Dubai Police were able to unravel the case, showing that the man had actually been killed by his friend as a result of disagreements.

Aborting the truth

As for the case of the woman, all indications were that the death was “natural”.

However, forensics proved that the woman was in fact pregnant and had tried to abort the foetus.

Maj. Dr. Buraiki says the tests showed that the death was caused by hemorrhagic shock as a result of an incomplete abortion attempt.

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