Dr. Dileep Agnihotri
The department of Zoology organized webinar on Forensic Entomology and Its relevance to Legal Proceedings as part of the centenary celebrations. The webinar had forensic and legal experts from all over the globe. The first speaker Prof. Devinder Singh, Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Punjabi University, Patiala, spoke at length about how insects can help identify place, time and sometimes cause of death nad thus are of great homicidal and legal help. However he was deeply anguished over the lack of substantial work in India in this field. Prof Singh has trained with the Father of Forensic Entomology, Prof. Bernard Greenberg, University of Chicago. The second speaker Mark Benecke is a freelancing forensic biologist who has shed light on multiple cases including the identification of Adolf and Eva Hitlers skull. Prof. Benecke shared with the audience many interesting cases where forensic biology changed the direction of the case. On the second day Prof. Padma Saxena, Ex Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow talked about the basics of forensic entomology and detailed the methods of studying and working in this field. the fourth speaker Advocate Ali Jibran spoke in detail about the legal aspects of forensic entomology and how flourishing of this field in India could help in the solving of many cases.
The seminar was on a field that is hitherto less discussed in India and thus garnered great attention from across the globe with listeners joining in from America, Europe and Africa. The lectures are available on the youtube channel of Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow.
