DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sajb.2026.v14i06.002

Pages: 425-428

It is a well-known fact that foot impressions, either 2D or 3D, form a valuable silent witness found at crime scenes. In the initial stage of investigation, it is cumbersome to identify the person directly, but need to predict/determine stature, body mass and gender. This impression reflects the ethnic variation, and hence ethnicity should be considered whenever population specific research is initiated. Earlier researchers have conducted studies relating stature, body mass, and gender to foot impressions. But till now, no study has been conducted to determine living body mass from 2D foot impressions. Keeping this in mind, the present study is planned to predict living body mass from foot impression among the Malay population in Peninsular Malaysia. This study's supervisor and corresponding author (Herein, mentioned TN) approached adult Malay people and requested them to donate footprints to conduct this research, and they also accepted for the same. The study was carried out in Peninsular Malaysia, involving 400 Malaysian Malays (200 males and 200 females), ranging in age from 18 to 55 years. The body mass of the subjects was measured, and 800 bilateral footprints were collected using an inkless shoeprint kit following standard procedures. From each subject, a total of 10 anthropometric measurements were taken, viz., five from the left sides and five from the right sides and developed formulae for body weight determination.