Can computer forensic tools be trusted in digital investigations?

This paper investigates whether computer forensic tools (CFTs) can extract complete and credible digital evidence from digital crime scenes in the presence of file system anti-forensic (AF) attacks. The study uses a well-established six stage forensic tool testing methodology based on black-box testing principles to carry out experiments that evaluate four leading CFTs for their potential to combat eleven different file system AF attacks. Results suggest that only a few AF attacks are identified by all the evaluated CFTs, while as most of the attacks considered by the study go unnoticed. These AF attacks exploit basic file system features, can be executed using simple tools, and even attack CFTs to accomplish their task. These results imply that evidences collected by CFTs in digital investigations are not complete and credible in the presence of AF attacks. The study suggests that practitioners and academicians should not absolutely rely on CFTs for evidence extraction from a digital crime scene, highlights the implications of doing so, and makes many recommendations in this regard. The study also points towards immediate and aggressive research efforts that are required in the area of computer forensics to address the pitfalls of CFTs.     

Fighting impunity in hate crime — history,ethics, and the law: An interview with Harsh Mander

Jindal Global Law Review - This interview with writer and activist Harsh Mander was conducted on 21 and 23 April 2020 while numerous instances of hate crime, during the severe COVID-19 lockdown,...     

Hate crimes in India

Jindal Global Law Review -     

Age estimation from root development of mandibular third molars in comparison with skeletal age of wrist joint

Identification of the living person and the dead is of paramount importance for variety of reasons in forensic practice routinely. Age estimation is one of the prime factors employed to establish identity. Estimating age from teeth is generally reliable as they are naturally preserved long after all the tissues and even bones have disintegrated. A study was done to determine the age by root developmental changes, using the intraoral periapical radiographs of the mandibular third molars, adopting the Leif Kullman et al method. Three hundred forty-six girls and 389 boys of the age range 15-25 years, among the South Indian population of young adults from various schools and colleges in the vicinity of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts and also among the patients visiting the outpatient department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, College of Dental Surgery, Manipal, were considered for this study. The subjects were roentgenographically examined to determine the age from the 7 stages of root development of the left mandibular third molar. Depending on the exact stage of root development as seen in the radiograph, the chronologic age was determined. This method sheds a new light on determining the ages of 15, 16, and 18 years, which has an immense medicolegal bearing.     

Correction to: Fighting impunity in hate crime — history,ethics, and the law: An interview with Harsh Mander

Jindal Global Law Review - The original article was corrected.     

Chemical poisoning in three Telengana districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Medical records of (i) toxico-medico-legal death cases from three districts of Telengana region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, viz. Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medak, and (ii) clinical toxicology cases in suspected poisoning from hospitals in and around Hyderabad city were examined for a period of 5 calendar years. The age group at risk in both the types of cases is 15-24. The cause of suicides includes physical illness, family/spouse problems and financial problems. Labourers form a dominant risk group in rural and semi-urban industrial area, whereas in urban area the employees were the dominant risk group. The agricultural pesticides and household insecticides were the predominant poisons used for suicide purposes.     

The crime vanishes: Mob lynching,hate crime,and police discretion in India

Jindal Global Law Review - Amidst high-profile incidents of hate violence against religious and caste minorities, the Indian Supreme Court laid down a series of guidelines to address mob violence...     

(RE)EXPERIENCING THE NOW-GONE: YOUTH AND CULTURAL POLITICS IN SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA

The events of the so-called Arab Spring reconnected the young and their culture with images of organized political activism and resulted in huge political resonance. So this may be an appropriate point at which to reconsider the relevance of youth culture politics in the now-gone Soviet Union. The article explores the connections between cultural consumption by the young, ideology, and political ambivalence during Soviet times and considers how the Soviet genre of youth culture politics is being reproduced and continued in an extended form in the post-Soviet setting, specifically in Uzbekistan.