Study on finger dermatoglyphics of brahmin and muslim populations in manipur: a comparative study

Background: Dermatoglyphic study is the study of dermal ridges on the palmar and planter surfaces of the feet and hand. The study of fingerprints is considered as the best tool for identification in living and even dead bodies and play important role in the field of forensic medicine. Objectives: The objective of the present study is to study the fingerprints patterns, various indices and ridge density of Brahmin and Muslim populations in Manipur. Design: A Cross-sectional study. Materials and methods: A total of 400 unrelated normal individuals (200 = Brahmins and 200 =Muslims) representing males (100) and females (100) in each population were collected using ink-print method. The age of the subjects ranges from 10 to 40 years. Results: Loop finger patterns are dominant among males and females with 57.95% among Brahmins and 51.55% among Muslims which confirm the global distribution of whorl, loop and arch patterns. Among the Bishnupriyas of Assam and Khangabok, such higher occurrences of loops were recorded, which may suggest having similar origin with the present study population. This is closely followed by whorls with 34.55% among Brahmins and 44.355 among Muslims. Comparison of finger patterns of the same sex in the two populations showed highly significant differences, statistically, (λ2= 36.82, 18.87 and 51.92, P<0.05) level. Furuhata’s Index is higher among the Muslims while Dankmeijer’s and Poll’s indices were higher among the Brahmins. Muslim males had the highest mean pattern intensity index, Absolute Ridge Count and Total Ridge Count in comparison with Brahmin males, as such, significant differences have revealed in the comparisons of the three parameters in between the two groups. Interestingly, such significant variations cannot be seen in the female populations of the two groups. Conclusion: Differences in digital patterns between Brahmins and Muslims in loops, whorls and arches have been assessed. Moreover, pattern intensity index, absolute ridge count and total ridge count were also found to be different in between the males, in particular.