The Metric Analysis of Footprints

Over the years many studies have been conducted to estimate age sex stature etc. of an individual from footprints. Footprint is one important evidence which cannot be erased completely as “it needs to go somewhere to do something”. The study compares inked footprints of individuals of Himachal Pradesh and Delhi to understand the basic differences between the footprints of the two communities. Measurements of various angles and lengths were performed using protectors and scales. Various parameters were set and analyzed. It was observed that parameters foot breadth foot length alpha angle etc. gave good significant results whereas first toe length phalange marks and foot index etc. gave non- significant results when the two populations were compared. Various statistical formulas were applied and it was observed that 11 out of 25 parameters displayed significant results. The study suggests that using these 11 significant parameters an expert can estimate whether the footprint found at any crime scene belongs to Delhi population or Himachal Pradesh population.