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Description
Title查林康氏因患神經病而跳樓自殺身死
Short title林康氏跳樓自殺案
archiveID180
DateThursday 17 May 1945
Year1945
Author上海特別市第一警察局泰山分局; 同仁會上海診療班第二醫院; 仁濟醫院; 上海地方檢察署
Role (author of)Police investigation; reporting of non-natural death; medical treatment and certification; witness interrogation; collection of medical evidence; judicial inquest; medico-legal examination
Series Number/IDShanghai Municipal Archives
Box numberR44-2
File numberR44-2-5600
Number of pages24
Abstract

Dossier concerning Lin Kangshi (林康氏), a woman in her mid-fifties whose death in Shanghai on 17 May 1945 was investigated as suicide by jumping from a building. The archival heading explicitly attributes the suicide to a condition described as 神經病. The police non-natural death report identifies Lin as a 54-year-old woman, unemployed at the time of her death, and records the incident within the jurisdiction of the Taishan Police Branch.

Following the fall, Lin was taken for medical treatment. The dossier contains a police injury form from the Second Hospital of the Shanghai Medical Unit of the Tongrenhui (同仁會上海診療班第二醫院) and an English-language Medical Certificate of Death recording that she died at Renji Hospital (仁濟醫院) on 17 May. The latter documents severe traumatic injuries, including a forehead laceration and fracture of the base of the skull, consistent with a fall from height. It records her as female, married, Chinese, and 55 years old, creating a one-year age discrepancy with the police and later judicial records.

Police testimony investigates Lin's medical and mental condition before the suicide. Witness questioning explicitly discusses her 神經病, prior treatment, and the circumstances preceding the jump. The file also preserves medical documentation and a Chinese medical prescription associated with her treatment. The dossier subsequently passed to the prosecutorial authorities for formal examination. The medico-legal records again identify Lin as approximately 54 years old and document multiple traumatic injuries. The final conclusion attributes her death to injuries sustained in the fall (跌傷致死).

Comment

Predominantly handwritten Chinese documents on printed police and judicial forms, supplemented by Chinese and English medical documentation. The file is noteworthy for the comparatively explicit connection drawn by contemporary officials between suicide and 神經病. This terminology should be retained as the wording employed in the archival record rather than converted into a specific modern psychiatric diagnosis. Witness testimony confirms that Lin had experienced a condition understood contemporaneously in these terms and had received treatment before her death. No distinct additional motive is established securely enough to supersede the explanation recorded by the investigators.

There is a minor documentary discrepancy concerning age: the police and medico-legal documentation gives 54 years, whereas the English medical certificate gives 55 years. For catalogue purposes, 54 is preferable because it appears in the principal police and judicial records. The archival classification establishes the manner of death as suicide by jumping, while the final forensic examination records the physiological cause more narrowly as traumatic injuries from the fall.

Keywords (en)suicide; suicide by jumping; fall from building; fall injuries; nervous disorder; mental illness; women; medical treatment; psychiatric condition; hospital treatment; head injury; skull fracture; death investigation; witness testimony; medical certificati
Keywords (fr)suicide; suicide par saut d'un bâtiment; chute d'un bâtiment; blessures dues à une chute; troubles nerveux; maladie mentale; femmes; traitement médical; troubles psychiques; hospitalisation; traumatisme crânien; fracture du crâne; enquête sur un d
SubjectSuicide; suicide by jumping; nervous/mental illness; fall injuries; medical treatment; death investigation; forensic examination
Place of eventShanghai 上海
Year of event1945
LanguageChinese
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