Virginity & Defloration

Dr. Md. Habibuzzaman Chowdhury

Forensic Medicine
Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical
college, Dhaka.
Definitions of virginity
(Virgo intacta) & Defloration
Virginity means inexperience of sexual
intercourse on the part of a woman or
Virginity may be defined as the state of
a woman who had never been
experienced in sexual intercourse
Defloration is defined as loss of
virginity ie, experiencing sexual
intercourse by a woman for once at
least
Medico legal importance of
virginity & defloration
Loss of virginity before marriage is not
a ground for nullity of marriage
Virginity after marriage indicates non
consummation of marriage by sexual
intercourse & that is a ground for nullity
of marriage or divorce, which may be
due to impotence of the husband or the
wife or frigidity of the wife
Contd.
Loss of virginity is related with rape
committed on a virgin
False allegation of loss of virginity of
a female amounts to her defamation
In short the legal issues are: Nullity
of marriage or divorce, Rape,
Defamation etc.
Features of virginity in
private parts
Hymen:
A virgin girl is expected to have intact
hymen which is a wall-like flap of thin
fibro mucosal tissue placed anterior to
the vaginal orifice or the outlet with a
central circular opening
Types of Hymen
Annular shaped hymen
Semi lunar hymen
Vertical hymen
Cibriform hymen
Septet hymen with two openings

Contd.
Imperforated hymen
Caranculae hymenalis
Carunculae myrtiformis
Features of defloration
The hymen is usually ruptured at 5,
7 or 6 clock position posteriorly
In sexually habituated woman there
may be multiple ruptures with
presence of tag of hymeneal tissue on
the margins giving an appearance
known as carunculae hymenalis

Contd.
After per vaginal delivery, the hymen is
almost abolished with presence of its
remnants only near the marginal
attachment as an irregular thick area-
carunculae myrtiformis
In deflorated woman: There may be
intact hymen under the following
conditions:
Contd.
When the victim is a young girl
When the marginal tissue prevents
the insertion of the penis in to the
vagina
When the hymen is thick & fleshy
When the hymen is highly elastic &
loose
Contd.
During the first act of coitus, the
fourchette (the lower meeting point
of both labia minora) may be
ruptured to heal in a thick irregular line
Changes in the Labia majora, Labia
minora, fossa navicularis, vaginal wall,
clitoris etc. may occur after repeated
sexual intercourse

Contd.

Fossa navicularis:
The depression between the fourchette
& the vaginal opening, changes its
appearance
Contd.
Labia minora:
These are usually pinkish, smaller &
mostly covered by labia majora in
virgins, but in deflorated woman after
frequent sexual intercourse- partly
darkly pigmented, some how enlarged
& separated from labia majora as
projected out side

Contd.

Labia majora:
These are firm & fleshy & both sides are
in close apposition in virgins, but
becomes lax, not in close apposition,
have rather a gap between two sides
Contd.
Vaginal walls:
In virgin woman there are rugosity &
the vagina is not capacious, but with
frequent sexual intercourse the rugosity
is minimized & it becomes capacious
Contd.
The vestibule:
It is narrow, the whole space between
the labia minora & the above vaginal
opening in a virgin girl becomes
spacious due to appearance of folds by
repeated sexual intercourse
Contd.
All signs of pregnancy, some are
permanent & are signs of loss of
virginity when pregnancy is the result of
artificial insemination
Extra genital Signs of
virginity
Breasts are hemispherical, firm,
with smaller pinkish areola & small
nipples in a virgins which does not
change in defloration initially but in
habituated woman, the breasts are
enlarged, soft & may be slightly
pendulous, nipples being large & raised
Hymen may be ruptured in
a virgin due to
Surgical interference
Ulceration
Scratching due to chronic itching
Disease like Diphtheria
Regular use of sanitary

Contd.
Deliberate rupture of the hymen to
make a girl fit for sexual intercourse
such as in case of sex workers
In certain accidental injury
False virgin
It is a state of woman who has lost
virginity but does not show the
signs of defloration
Here hymen is intact, so confusion
may arise as it may remain intact in a
few percentage of woman even after
multiple acts of coitus
Contd.
This false virginity may occur:
When the hymen is thick, tough,
fleshy, elastic & loose
In such cases, other signs of
defloration may be present depending
on the length of time of experience
of sexual intercourse
Thanks
To everybody