Identification of a novel compound in post-mortem specimen of a sexually assaulted victim by gc-ms analysis

Modern society is witnessing a considerable ascend in sexual assault against women in India by using several illicitly abused psychoactive substances. Isopulegol is a terpene-based alkaloid found in cannabis plants and can also be synthetically manufactured as a designer drug. It is used as a precursor chemical for menthol manufacturing which is used as a flavoring agent in food products. This paper presents identified novel drug Isopulegol (a terpene-based plant alkaloid) in the post-mortem samples of rape victims. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and GC-MS analysis were conducted on the extracts of biological samples. This case highlighted the role of forensic toxicologists and forensic chemists or drug analysts to explore drugs with abuse potential. Forensic examination of a reported case unearthed that this plant alkaloid has the potential to depress the central nervous system of an individual, enabling it to be used for offense expeditions.