A Forensic Linguistic Analysis of a Suicide Note: Examining Authenticity, Cultural Context and Institutional Influence

Abstract

This paper aims to determine through forensic linguistic means the authenticity of a suicide note of Muhammad Afzal Mehmood, an English literature lecturer accused of harassment. The study follows a qualitative approach in grammatical structure, lexical choices, emotive tone and contextual relevance. The present study will attempt to determine whether the note in question fits the established patterns of genuine suicide notes by comparing the linguistic features of the note against the corpus of genuine and fabricated notes documented in prior forensic studies. This research embeds a socio-cultural and institutional context reflecting upon how societal and institutional dynamics impact the authenticity and interpretation of such notes. It points, especially to the influence of social media and supportive institutions, the lack of such accusations on the individuals. These findings identify that though Afzal received public support, the absence of formal institutional exoneration certainly contributed to lingering despair, as his note identifying dates makes clear. The work at this moment represents a contribution to forensic linguistics because it insists on adopting culturally sensitive methodologies and further refines ways in which the broader social, cultural, and institutional contexts may be taken into consideration so that suicide note analysis becomes more reliable and valid for legal investigation purposes.