How does a contact gunshot wound differ from a close-range gunshot wound?

A contact shot is fired with the muzzle pressed against skin. The entry shows a muzzle imprint (the abrasion of the muzzle and front sight), stellate or cruciate tearing especially over bone (because gases trapped under skin explode outward), soot deposited inside the wound track and cherry-red discolouration of burnt tissue. A close-range shot, from a few centimetres up to about 60 cm, shows soot blackening around the entry out to about 30 cm and tattooing or stippling of unburnt powder grains out to about 60 cm. Tattooing cannot be wiped off; soot can. Beyond 1 m only the abraded collar remains and the shot is classed as distant.

What vital reactions distinguish an antemortem from a postmortem wound?

Antemortem wounds show haemorrhage with clotting and retracted vessel ends, eversion of wound edges, hyperaemia and inflammatory redness at margins, swelling and infiltration of subcutaneous tissue, scab formation within hours, and inflammatory or healing changes over days (leucocyte infiltration, granulation tissue, pus). Postmortem wounds are pale and dry, bleed little, lack eversion and inflammatory change, and a postmortem abrasion is yellow and parchment-like. For burns, the line of redness at the margin, soot in the airway, and carboxyhaemoglobin greater than 10 percent in blood are antemortem-specific signs.

Injuries and Wounds: Types, Medicolegal Importance and Gunshot Wounds

UGC-NET Paper 2 Unit X notes on mechanical, thermal and electrical injuries, simple vs grievous hurt under BNS 114-118, and gunshot wound entry/exit/range.

Last updated: 18 May 2026

Injuries and wounds sit at the centre of Unit X of the UGC-NET Forensic Science syllabus, because almost every assault, homicide and accidental-death case turns on how a medical officer describes the wound and how a court reads that description. NTA expects four blocks of recall on this bullet: the medical taxonomy of mechanical, thermal and electrical injuries, the statutory line between simple and grievous hurt under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, the autopsy signs that separate antemortem from postmortem injury, and the entry, exit and range features of gunshot wounds. The topic feeds Unit V (firearms) and Unit VIII (biometrics) but lives in forensic medicine.

Treat the topic as one autopsy report plus one statute table. The autopsy report carries the morphology (abrasion, contusion, laceration, incised, stab, chop, burn, electric mark, gunshot entry and exit) and the vital reactions that prove the wound was inflicted in life. The statute table carries BNS 2023 Sections 114 to 118 and the eight clauses of grievous hurt under Section 116, which courts read literally. Modi's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology and Reddy's Essentials are the standard Indian references; AIIMS Delhi, KEM Mumbai and government medical-college mortuaries are the practical anchors.

Key terms

Injury: Any harm whatever illegally caused to a person in body, mind, reputation or property (BNS 2023 Section 2(14), carrying forward IPC Section 44).
Wound: A breach of natural continuity of any tissue, living or dead, caused by physical or mechanical violence.
Abrasion: Superficial injury limited to the epidermis caused by friction; types include graze, pressure, imprint (patterned) and postmortem.
Contusion (bruise): Extravasation of blood into subcutaneous tissue from ruptured capillaries with the skin intact; age estimated from colour change over 1 to 2 weeks.
Laceration: Tearing or splitting of skin and soft tissue by blunt force, with irregular margins and bridging tissue (vessels, nerves) across the wound base.
Incised wound: Clean-cut wound produced by a sharp-edged weapon where length is greater than depth; spindle-shaped with everted, regular edges.
Stab (punctured) wound: Wound produced by a pointed weapon where depth is greater than length on the skin; gives the best clue to weapon dimensions.
Chop wound: Combined incised and lacerated injury from a heavy edged weapon (axe, kulhari), often involving underlying bone.
Simple hurt: Any hurt that does not fall within the eight clauses of grievous hurt under BNS 2023 Section 116; punishable under Section 115.
Grievous hurt: Hurt falling within any of the eight clauses of BNS 2023 Section 116 (emasculation, vision loss, hearing loss, member or joint deprivation, permanent disfigurement of head or face, fracture or dislocation, life-endangering or 20-day disability).
Defence wound: Injury sustained while warding off an attack, typically incised or stab wounds on the palms, fingers, ulnar borders of forearms or back of forearm.
Abraded collar: 1 to 3 mm rim of grazed skin around a firearm entry wound caused by the bullet stretching and scraping the skin on impact; absent at exit wounds.

Mechanical injuries: blunt and sharp force

Abrasion, contusion, laceration on the blunt side; incised, stab, chop on the sharp side.

Mechanical injuries split into blunt-force and sharp-force families. Both are routine entries in mortuary registers at AIIMS Delhi, KEM Mumbai and any district government medical college, so NTA treats the morphology as core recall.

Blunt-force injuries. Three types appear in every textbook. An abrasion is a superficial injury limited to the epidermis, produced by friction. Subtypes are graze or scratch (linear, tangential), pressure abrasion (the seatbelt mark across a chest, or the ligature mark in hanging), imprint or patterned abrasion (the tread of a tyre, the weave of a fabric, the grille of a vehicle) and postmortem abrasion (yellow, parchment-like, no vital reaction). Abrasions are the most reliable wound for showing the direction of force. A contusion or bruise is extravasation of blood into subcutaneous tissue from ruptured capillaries with the skin intact. Age is estimated by colour: red within hours, blue or purple at 1 to 3 days, green at 4 to 6 days, yellow at 7 to 12 days, fading brown to clearing over 14 days or so. The colour sequence reflects haemoglobin breakdown (haemoglobin to biliverdin to bilirubin to haemosiderin). A laceration is a tear or split produced by blunt force; the margins are irregular and contused, hair bulbs are crushed, and the diagnostic feature is bridging tissue, strands of blood vessels, nerves or connective tissue that remain intact across the wound base because they are more elastic than skin. Lacerations bleed less than incised wounds of similar size.

Sharp-force injuries. Three types again. An incised wound is produced by a sharp-edged weapon (knife, razor, glass shard) drawn across the skin; length is greater than depth, the edges are clean, regular and everted, no bridging, and bleeding is profuse. A stab or punctured wound is produced by a pointed weapon thrust into the body;

Thermal and electrical injuries

Burns by Wallace's Rule of 9, four degrees, vital reactions, Joule burn at entry.

Burns. The medical officer at a Mumbai or Delhi burns ward classifies burns by depth and extent. Depth is graded into four degrees on the older Dupuytren scale or three on the modern (superficial, partial-thickness, full-thickness) scale. First degree is erythema (sunburn-like), second degree is vesication or blistering with intact dermis, third degree is full-thickness with destruction of dermis and appendages, fourth degree extends to deep tissues including muscle and bone. Extent is measured by Wallace's Rule of 9 in adults: head and neck 9 percent, each upper limb 9 percent, anterior trunk 18 percent, posterior trunk 18 percent, each lower limb 18 percent, perineum 1 percent. Children get a different chart because the head is proportionally larger. Burns greater than 40 percent are typically grievous and life-endangering; survival depends on age, comorbidities and burn-unit access.

Scalds are injuries by hot liquid or steam (below 100 degrees C); blisters are common and hair is usually not singed. Dry burns are from flame or hot solids; hair is singed and clothing may be involved. Dowry-death and bride-burning cases under BNS 2023 Sections 79, 80 and 117 turn on whether the burn pattern is consistent with the history given.

Antemortem versus postmortem burns are tested every cycle. Antemortem signs include the line of redness at the burn margin (hyperaemia), vesicles with serous fluid and high protein and chloride content, soot in the airway and stomach (inhaled while breathing), carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) greater than 10 percent in blood (an unambiguous proof of inhalation of fire gases), and reparative changes such as scab, granulation or epithelialisation in survivors. The presence of COHb above 10 percent at autopsy is the single strongest evidence the person was alive in the fire. Absence of soot in the airway and a COHb less than 10 percent points to a body burnt after death, a finding the prosecution leans on in staged-suicide cases.

Simple versus grievous hurt under BNS 2023

Sections 114 to 118; the eight clauses of Section 116 are recall-tested every cycle.

The statutory frame moved from the Indian Penal Code to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 with effect from 1 July 2024. The historical IPC Sections 319 to 326 map almost one-to-one to BNS 2023 Sections 114 to 118, which is convenient for aspirants who studied the older syllabus.

BNS 2023 Section 114 (Hurt defined). "Whoever causes bodily pain, disease or infirmity to any person is said to cause hurt." This is the base definition; corresponds to IPC Section 319.

BNS 2023 Section 115 (Voluntarily causing hurt). Whoever does any act with the intention or knowledge of causing hurt is said to voluntarily cause hurt; punishable with imprisonment up to one year or fine up to ten thousand rupees or both. Corresponds to IPC Sections 321 and 323.

BNS 2023 Section 116 (Grievous hurt defined). Lists the eight clauses that elevate simple hurt to grievous hurt, and every aspirant should memorise them as a single block: (1) Emasculation, (2) Permanent privation of sight of either eye, (3) Permanent privation of hearing of either ear, (4) Privation of any member or joint (loss of a limb or finger), (5) Destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member or joint, (6) Permanent disfiguration of the head or face, (7) Fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth, (8) Any hurt which endangers life or which causes the sufferer to be during the space of twenty days in severe bodily pain, or unable to follow his ordinary pursuits. Corresponds to IPC Section 320.

BNS 2023 Section 117 (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt). Imprisonment up to seven years and fine; corresponds to IPC Sections 322 and 325.

BNS 2023 Section 118 (Voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means). Hurt or grievous hurt caused by any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting, or any instrument that used as a weapon is likely to cause death, or by fire, heated substance, poison, corrosive substance, explosive substance or any animal; punishable with imprisonment up to ten years and fine. Corresponds to IPC Sections 324 and 326.

Antemortem versus postmortem distinction

Vital reactions: haemorrhage, retraction, swelling, inflammation, scab.

Distinguishing antemortem from postmortem injury is the single most courtroom-relevant skill a medical officer demonstrates at autopsy. NTA tests this as a short-answer list of vital reactions.

Vital reactions (antemortem signs). Haemorrhage and clotting with retracted vessel ends are the strongest single sign; arterial spurting indicates injury in life. Eversion of wound edges (because of skin tension while living tissue is elastic). Hyperaemia and inflammatory redness at margins within minutes to hours. Swelling and infiltration of subcutaneous tissue. Scab formation within hours to a day. Inflammation and infection signs over days (leucocyte infiltration, granulation tissue, pus). Histology shows leucocytic margination within 30 minutes to 4 hours, fibrin within 4 to 8 hours, and capillary buds within 24 to 48 hours; a forensic histopathologist at AIIMS Delhi or NIMHANS Bangalore can date a wound on these criteria.

Postmortem injury features. Pale, yellow, dry, parchment-like surface (especially for postmortem abrasions). Little or no bleeding. Wound edges gape less and lack eversion. No clot retraction. No inflammation, no scab, no healing. Postmortem incised wounds may bleed slightly from dependent areas because of postural pooling, which can confuse the inexperienced examiner.

The soot in airway and carboxyhaemoglobin thresholds described in Section 2 are the burn-specific vital reactions. For drowning, the diatom test is the classical antemortem indicator; for hanging, the line of redness under the ligature mark and subcutaneous haemorrhage in neck muscles are the vital signs.

Defence wounds, self-inflicted wounds and fabricated wounds

Hands and forearms tell defence; hesitation cuts and accessible sites tell self-infliction.

Whether an injury was sustained, self-inflicted or fabricated is a question the trial court asks every time, and it is recall-grade for NET.

Defence wounds. Wounds sustained while warding off an attack. Typical sites are the palms and fingers (grabbing the blade), the ulnar borders of the forearms (raised to shield the face), and the back of the hand and forearm (turned outward against blows). Incised defence wounds are common against knife attacks; lacerations and fractures of the ulna ("nightstick fracture") are common against blunt weapons such as a lathi. The presence of defence wounds is strong evidence the victim was conscious and resisting, which excludes a sleeping or already-unconscious victim hypothesis.

Self-inflicted wounds. Typical patterns: multiple hesitation or tentative cuts parallel to the deeper main wound, all on accessible sites (front of wrist, front of neck, anterior chest in the non-dominant hand's reach), avoidance of sensitive structures (eyes, lips, nipples, genitals are spared), uniform direction and depth, and absence of defence wounds elsewhere. The classical Cantle-Buntin / Modi signs of self-infliction that Indian textbooks tabulate are: accessible site, sparing of clothing (clothes lifted before cutting), multiple superficial parallel hesitation marks, uniform direction, and a credible psychiatric or motive history (insurance, false complaint, evasion of duty).

Fabricated (fictitious) wounds. Self-produced or third-party-produced wounds designed to support a false complaint of assault, robbery or rape. The classical clue set is the same as for self-inflicted wounds plus inconsistency with the alleged story (clothing intact while skin underneath is cut), absence of corresponding clothing damage, and recovery far quicker than the alleged severity suggests. State of Maharashtra v. Mohd. Yakub and similar cases hinge on whether the medical evidence supports the prosecution's narrative or exposes fabrication.

Gunshot wounds: entry, exit and range

Entry inverted with abraded collar; exit everted and irregular; range from contact to distant.

Gunshot wounds are the Unit X topic with the highest MCQ yield because the entry-versus-exit table is short, visual and unambiguous. The bullet also links to Unit V (firearms and gunshot-residue analysis) and to BNS 2023 Section 113 (terrorist act) and Section 109 (attempt to murder by firearm).

Entry wound. Round to oval defect with inverted edges (skin pushed inward by the bullet), surrounded by a 1 to 3 mm abraded collar (rim of grazed epidermis caused by the bullet stretching and scraping skin on entry), often with a grease or dirt collar just inside the abrasion (lubricant and powder residue wiped from the bullet onto the skin). The defect is usually smaller than the bullet diameter because of skin elasticity. In contact and close-range shots, additional features appear (see range below).

Exit wound. Irregular, stellate or slit-like defect with everted edges (skin pushed outward as the bullet leaves), no abraded collar, no grease collar, no soot or tattooing. The exit may be larger than the entry because of bullet tumbling and tissue or bone fragments riding the bullet. Bone exit defects show a cone of beveling outward, the inverse of the inward beveling seen at the entry side of skull bone.

Range of fire. The standard four-step continuum is the staple MCQ stem.

Contact shot (muzzle pressed against skin). Round entry with muzzle imprint (abrasion pattern of the front sight, muzzle and gas port), stellate or cruciate tearing of skin (especially over bone, because gases trapped under the skin explode it outward), soot deposited inside the wound track, cherry-red discolouration from carboxyhaemoglobin in the burnt tissue.
Close range (a few cm up to about 60 cm).

PYQ pointers

The eight clauses of grievous hurt under BNS 2023 Section 116 (emasculation, vision loss, hearing loss, member or joint deprivation, permanent disfigurement of head or face, fracture or dislocation, life-endangering or 20-day disability) are tested almost every cycle, often as "which of the following is NOT grievous hurt" distractor sets. Vital reactions (haemorrhage with retracted vessel ends, eversion of edges, redness, swelling, scab, infection) form the antemortem-versus-postmortem MCQ stem. The 1 to 3 mm abraded collar dimension at gunshot entry is recall-grade. The contact-versus-close-range distinction (muzzle imprint and stellate tearing for contact; soot up to 30 cm and tattooing up to 60 cm for close range) recurs in the firearm cluster. For verified year-tagged PYQs cross-reference NTA's published past-paper PDFs; this topic deliberately avoids citing unconfirmed years.

MCQ takeaways

Incised wound: length is greater than depth; clean everted edges; sharp-edged weapon.Stab wound: depth is greater than length on skin; best clue to weapon dimensions.Laceration: irregular margins, bridging tissue (vessels and nerves) intact across base; blunt force.Bruise age sequence: red, blue or purple, green, yellow, brown over 1 to 2 weeks.Wallace's Rule of 9 (adult): head 9, each upper limb 9, anterior trunk 18, posterior trunk 18, each lower limb 18, perineum 1.Carboxyhaemoglobin greater than 10 percent at autopsy proves the victim was alive in the fire.BNS 2023 Section 116: eight clauses of grievous hurt; corresponds to historical IPC Section 320.BNS 2023 Section 118: hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means; corresponds to IPC Sections 324 and 326.Virsa Singh v. State of Punjab (1958): four-ingredient test for intentional grievous hurt amounting to murder.Gunshot entry: round or oval, inverted edges, abraded collar 1 to 3 mm, grease or dirt collar.Gunshot exit: irregular or stellate, everted edges, no abraded collar, larger than entry.Range markers: contact (muzzle imprint, stellate tearing, soot in track), close (soot to 30 cm, tattooing to 60 cm), intermediate (60 cm to 1 m, tattooing fades), distant (beyond 1 m, only abraded collar).

What are the eight clauses of grievous hurt under BNS 2023 Section 116?

The eight clauses are: emasculation; permanent privation of sight of either eye; permanent privation of hearing of either ear; privation of any member or joint; destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member or joint; permanent disfiguration of the head or face; fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth; and any hurt which endangers life or causes the sufferer to be during 20 days in severe bodily pain or unable to follow ordinary pursuits. Section 116 corresponds to the historical IPC Section 320; Section 117 covers voluntarily causing grievous hurt and Section 118 covers grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means.

How do you distinguish an incised wound from a laceration in an MCQ?

An incised wound is produced by a sharp-edged weapon, has length greater than depth, clean and regular margins, everted edges, no bridging tissue and bleeds profusely. A laceration is produced by blunt force, has irregular and contused margins, crushed hair bulbs, and the diagnostic feature is bridging tissue, that is strands of vessels and nerves intact across the wound base because they are more elastic than skin. Lacerations bleed less than incised wounds of similar size. Stab wounds, by contrast, have depth greater than length on skin and are produced by pointed weapons.

What is the abraded collar and what does it tell the examiner?

The abraded collar is a 1 to 3 mm rim of grazed epidermis around a gunshot entry wound, caused by the bullet stretching and scraping the skin as it enters. It confirms the wound is an entry rather than an exit. Just inside the abraded collar is the grease or dirt collar, a thinner ring of lubricant and powder residue wiped from the bullet onto the skin. Neither feature is seen at the exit wound, which is irregular, everted and free of collars and soot.

Found this useful? Pass it along.

Your journey to becoming a forensic professional starts here.