Saumitra Basu

Bio: Saumitra Basu is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Identification (biology) & Perspective (graphical). The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 19 citations.

Forensic Science and Scientific Measures for Criminal Identification in British India

Abstract: Like every civilized society, India also had a crime and criminal justice system since ancient times. Specifically after the 1857 rebellion, the British reformed the whole penal law and introduced forensic science for scientific certainty in the criminal justice system. The present paper attempts to understand the historical roots of forensic science in India with emphasis to explore the circumstances which prompted the British to initiate forensic science in India, perception of crime developed by the colonial rulers and finally the historical consequences of the development of forensic institutions in different parts of colonial India. Finally the study reveals that introduction of forensic science for crime investigation and institutionalization of crime came as a new colonial discourse.

Madras Lunatic Asylum: A Remarkable History in British India

Abstract: Concern for mental health has long been a part of Indian health cultures. Prior to colonial imperialism of India, the confinement of the mentally ill was not commonly practised in Indian society. In India the care of the mentally ill in asylums was a British innovation. The purpose of these asylums appeared to have been to alleviate society from those inflicted with mental disease. As a result the British established a number of lunatic asylums in different Presidencies of the then India. Madras lunatic asylum was one of them. Specifically this asylum was relatively free from maladies in comparison with the other asylums in colonial India. The aim of the present research is to assess the genesis of this asylum with emphasis to understand the major prerequisite for establishing Lunatic Asylums in Colonial India and specifically comprehend the perceptions about Lunacy by the colonial rulers. The present study explores the origin of the Madras lunatic asylum with its distinct noncontroversial features, enactment of Indian Lunacy Acts, the role of Madras government and the new knowledge of asylum psychiatry under the colonial hegemony. The study reveals the function of the Madras lunatic asylum as an example of providing reception to both Europeans and Indians since its inception. Internal management, efficiency in curing the disease and low death rate which were evident in Madras lunatic asylum have been discussed in the present work. Control of corruptions within the asylum walls has also been observed. This in turn paved a new vista of psychiatry even in a colonial context.

Project Report: Hundred Years of Forensic Science in India (1849–1947): A Historical Perspective

Abstract: Attainment of scientific knowledge has always been intrinsic to human nature since the beginning of civilization. The word ‘forensic’ has been derived from the Latin ‘Forensis’ meaning belonging to the market place or forum. In ancient Rome the forum was the place where legal cases were tried and pleaded. The term ‘forensic science’ means the application of the knowledge of science for the purpose of lawand justice. It is amulti-disciplinary subject stemming from biology, chemistry, physics, geology, psychology and so on. In the Indian context, inadequate attempt has been made to trace the beginning of forensic science with its socio-historical context and diversity of scientific application for crime detection. The scant endeavour emphasizes the two way interaction between science and society and the development of forensic science specifically in the colonial India. The present project aims to trace the historical background, development and use of forensic science in civil and criminal investigation during British period and secondly to explore the extent to which the forensic science has proved useful in investigations and trials. To explore the scientific history of this discipline, the present attempt started its enquiry from 1849 when the British first established Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory atMadras and extended its horizon up to the end of the British Empire in India i.e. up to 1947. Historicizing the perception of crime investigation and its development through ages along with the historical beginning of forensic science under the shadow of colonial administration, the project seeks to highlight the following– (i) whether the concept

History of Neurodegenerative Diseases and its Impact on Aged Population in India:An Assessment

Abstract: The presen t p ro jec t focused on a comprehensive historical account on the devastating neurodegenerative diseases and their impact on aged population in India. In the Indian context, the conception of neurodegenerative diseases could be traced back to the Vedic age and more specifically the medical corpus known as the Atharvaveda. In our ancient medical system of yurveda, the three concepts of dhi (intelligence), dh ti (retention) and sm ti (memory) are the central assertive areas which guide treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. The 1st Chapter of Caraka Sahitā ‘Sūtrasthāna’ deals with long life, retention of memory and cognition.

Modern Clinical Psychiatry

Abstract: This eighth edition is the first not to bear the name of Arthur B. Noyes, the original and sole author of the first four editions. Lawrence C. Kolb alone takes over its name after being sole author since the 1963 edition (sixth edition). A major organizational change reorders and redesignates chapters to conform to the new Eighth International Classification of Disease. The basic format, at times the language, illustrative case reports, and the significant theoretical and phenomenological material are retained. However, updated and expanded clinical information appears in every chapter and in the bibliography. A chapter on special symptoms is added, and with those on behavior disorders of childhood and adolescence, and mental retardation, together offers a much expanded coverage of disorders of early life. Although the clinical base of psychoanalytic dynamic theory in personality development and conflict is the central functional concept, anatomical, biochemical, adaptational processes and mechanisms all

Mad tales from the Raj : the European insane in British India, 1800-1858

Abstract: Ex Oriente Lux - the light of the Orient madness and the politics of colonial rule ideological positions bureaucracy, corruption and public opinion the sick, the poor, and the mad administrative reforms and legal provision the institutions the role of institutionalization towards uniformity inside the institutions the medical profession the search for fortune and professional recognition the medicalization of madness the subordination of "native" medicine medicine and empire the patients a passage from India the changing fortunes of asylum inmates being insane in British India medical theory and practice popular images and medical concepts "moral" therapy, "mental" illness, and "physical" derangement diagnostics and therapeutic practice aetiology and prognosis treatment the question of "non-restraint" social discrimination, racial prejudice and medical concepts - east is east, and west is best.