A comparative analysis of lip print patterns for sex determination and permanency using lipstick, latent and digital methods in North Bihar

TL;DR

This study examines the stability and effectiveness of different methods for recording lip prints to determine sex in North Bihar.

Contribution

The study evaluates the permanency of lip prints and compares three recording methods for sex determination in a specific population.

Findings

Lip print patterns remained stable over a year with no significant changes.

Sex determination accuracy ranged from 63.8% to 67.2% across the three methods.

All three recording methods showed similar effectiveness for sex determination.

Abstract

Forensic identification often relies on fingerprints, but their absence necessitates alternative tools such as lip prints (cheiloscopy).
Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the permanency of lip prints over one year and compared three recording methods-lipstick,
latent prints and digital photography-for sex determination in the North Bihar population. Hence participants were assessed at baseline,
6 months and 12 months using Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification. Lip print patterns remained stable over time with no significant
intra- or inter-method differences and sex determination accuracy ranged from 63.8% to 67.2% across methods. Thus, we show lip prints
are permanent and recording methods equally effective, though accuracy in sex determination requires further enhancement for forensic
reliability.