A Comparative Study of Lip-prints on Bond Paper and Cloth

Abstract

Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has a right to identity as a
person, and its importance cannot be overemphasized anywhere else than in the court of law. The wrinkles
and grooves on labial mucosa called as sulci-labiorum forms a characteristic pattern and the study of these
is referred to as cheiloscopy. These are unique to an individual just like the fingerprints hence, behold the
potential for identification purpose and can be used to verify the presence of a person at the scene of crime.
The aim of study was to compare the lip-prints taken on bond paper and cloth.
The study was done in north Haryana from 2010-11 on 100 subjects. Purposive sampling was done and
subjects were asked to produce lip prints on cloth as well as on bond paper. The data obtained using these
two base materials were analyzed for any difference in results using Fischer’s exact test.
The difference in the result between the lip prints obtained using bond paper and cloth was found to be
statistically non-significant. Hence, it can be concluded that lip prints present on the cloth of the accused as
in crime scene can be compared with samples obtained on bond paper.