FMGE Forensic Medicine previous year questions

1. Q1. Under the insanity defence as applied in Indian law, an accused is exempt from criminal liability if unsoundness of mind at the time of the act prevented them from knowing which of the following?

   • A. That the act was against their own interest
   • B. The nature of the act, or that it was wrong or contrary to law
   • C. That the act would be discovered
   • D. The identity of the victim

   Answer: B. The nature of the act, or that it was wrong or contrary to law

2. Q2. A family develop vomiting and diarrhoea about ten hours after eating foraged mushrooms, appear to recover the following day, then develop jaundice and coagulopathy on day three. Which toxin is responsible?

   • A. Muscarine
   • B. Psilocybin
   • C. Amatoxin
   • D. Gyromitrin

   Answer: C. Amatoxin

1. Q1. A bullet recovered at autopsy shows spiral scratch marks running along its surface. What produces these, and what is their forensic value?

   • A. Contact with the lands of the rifled barrel, allowing the individual weapon to be identified
   • B. Contact with the cartridge case, allowing the ammunition batch to be traced
   • C. Passage through clothing, indicating the range of fire
   • D. Deformation against bone, indicating the wound track

   Answer: A. Contact with the lands of the rifled barrel, allowing the individual weapon to be identified

2. Q2. A farmer is bitten on the foot by a snake 20 minutes ago and has local swelling with oozing from the puncture site. What should be done first, before transfer?

   • A. Apply a tight arterial tourniquet above the knee
   • B. Incise the bite site and apply suction
   • C. Infiltrate antivenom locally around the bite
   • D. Immobilise the limb, keep it at or below heart level, and transfer urgently

   Answer: D. Immobilise the limb, keep it at or below heart level, and transfer urgently

1. Q1. A drowned body is recovered clutching weeds in one hand. The grip was present from the moment of recovery, with no preceding flaccid period. What is this, and what does it indicate?

   • A. Rigor mortis, indicating death 6 to 12 hours earlier
   • B. Heat stiffening, indicating exposure to fire
   • C. Gooseflesh, indicating immersion in cold water
   • D. Cadaveric spasm, indicating intense emotion or activity at the instant of death

   Answer: D. Cadaveric spasm, indicating intense emotion or activity at the instant of death

2. Q2. Police recover a skull, and the family provide a photograph of the missing person. Which technique compares the two directly to support identification?

   • A. Craniofacial superimposition
   • B. Anthropometry using Bertillon measurements
   • C. Cheiloscopy
   • D. Poroscopy

   Answer: A. Craniofacial superimposition

1. Q1. A battery worker has abdominal colic, wrist drop and anaemia. The blood film shows coarse basophilic stippling of red cells. Which poisoning is this, and what is its mechanism?

   • A. Chronic lead poisoning, inhibiting ferrochelatase and ALA dehydratase in haem synthesis
   • B. Chronic arsenic poisoning, binding sulfhydryl groups
   • C. Chronic mercury poisoning, causing tubular damage
   • D. Chronic iron overload, causing tissue deposition

   Answer: A. Chronic lead poisoning, inhibiting ferrochelatase and ALA dehydratase in haem synthesis

2. Q2. A man repeatedly obtains sexual gratification by inflicting pain and injury on a consenting partner. What is this paraphilia called?

   • A. Voyeurism
   • B. Fetishism
   • C. Masochism
   • D. Sadism

   Answer: D. Sadism

1. Q1. A man with alcohol dependence stops drinking. Which withdrawal feature appears latest, and at roughly what interval?

   • A. Coarse tremor and sweating, within 6 to 12 hours
   • B. Generalised seizures, within 12 to 48 hours
   • C. Delirium tremens, typically after 48 to 96 hours
   • D. Transient hallucinations with clear sensorium, within 12 to 24 hours

   Answer: C. Delirium tremens, typically after 48 to 96 hours

2. Q2. A physician refers patients for imaging and receives a share of the radiologist's fee in return. What is this practice called, and why is it professional misconduct?

   • A. Dichotomy, or fee-splitting, because it lets financial gain rather than clinical need drive referral
   • B. Covering, because an unqualified person is being assisted
   • C. Adultery, because a professional relationship is abused
   • D. Euthanasia, because patient autonomy is overridden

   Answer: A. Dichotomy, or fee-splitting, because it lets financial gain rather than clinical need drive referral

1. Q1. Barberio's test is applied to a stain and yields yellow rhombic crystals. What does this confirm, and is it presumptive or confirmatory?

   • A. Blood, presumptive only
   • B. Semen, confirmatory for spermine
   • C. Saliva, confirmatory for amylase
   • D. Urine, presumptive for urea

   Answer: B. Semen, confirmatory for spermine

2. Q2. A woman falsely claims to have been pregnant and later produces another woman's infant as her own, to gain from a man. What is such a child legally termed?

   • A. A posthumous child
   • B. A child of superfetation
   • C. A child of superfecundation
   • D. A supposititious child

   Answer: D. A supposititious child

1. Q1. A dying declaration is admissible in Indian courts even though the declarant can never be cross-examined. What is the reasoning behind that exception?

   • A. It must always be recorded by a magistrate, which guarantees accuracy
   • B. A person who believes death is imminent is presumed to have no motive to lie
   • C. Medical certification of the injuries substitutes for cross-examination
   • D. The signature of an independent witness makes it self-proving

   Answer: B. A person who believes death is imminent is presumed to have no motive to lie

2. Q2. A neck wound has clean-cut edges but the underlying tissues are crushed and a cervical vertebra is divided. Which weapon class produced it?

   • A. A light sharp-edged weapon, producing an incised wound
   • B. A blunt weapon, producing a laceration
   • C. A pointed weapon, producing a stab wound
   • D. A heavy sharp-edged weapon, producing a chop wound

   Answer: D. A heavy sharp-edged weapon, producing a chop wound

1. Q1. In an autopsy for suspected poisoning, stomach with contents, a portion of small intestine and liver are preserved. Which additional organ is routinely preserved, and why?

   • A. Lung, because volatile poisons concentrate there
   • B. Brain, because it stores lipid-soluble poisons
   • C. Heart, because it shows toxic myocarditis
   • D. Kidney, because it is the route of excretion for most poisons and heavy metals

   Answer: D. Kidney, because it is the route of excretion for most poisons and heavy metals

2. Q2. A wound has ragged margins, bruised edges, tissue bridging in its depth and crushed hair bulbs. Which type of wound is this, and which weapon caused it?

   • A. An incised wound from a sharp blade
   • B. A laceration from a blunt force
   • C. A stab wound from a pointed weapon
   • D. An abrasion from a tangential graze

   Answer: B. A laceration from a blunt force

1. Q1. Under the Hindu Marriage Act, which of the following is a recognised ground for divorce rather than for nullity?

   • A. Sterility of either partner
   • B. Frigidity in the wife
   • C. Impotence arising after the marriage has been consummated
   • D. Poverty of the husband

   Answer: C. Impotence arising after the marriage has been consummated

2. Q2. Which section of the Indian Penal Code deals with causing miscarriage without the woman's consent?

   • A. Section 312
   • B. Section 313
   • C. Section 314
   • D. Section 315

   Answer: B. Section 313

1. Q1. A toddler has swallowed kerosene from a bottle and is now coughing. How should gastrointestinal decontamination be approached?

   • A. Immediate gastric lavage, to remove the hydrocarbon before absorption
   • B. Induced emesis with syrup of ipecac
   • C. Activated charcoal, which binds hydrocarbons effectively
   • D. No gastric emptying at all, because a low-viscosity hydrocarbon is far more dangerous aspirated than absorbed

   Answer: D. No gastric emptying at all, because a low-viscosity hydrocarbon is far more dangerous aspirated than absorbed

2. Q2. Which test is confirmatory rather than merely presumptive for a bloodstain?

   • A. The Kastle-Meyer test
   • B. The benzidine test
   • C. Spectroscopic examination for haemoglobin derivatives
   • D. The ortho-toluidine test

   Answer: C. Spectroscopic examination for haemoglobin derivatives

Every FMGE session paper, all 19 subjects together, is on our previous year questions page.