Lucknow: The Forensic Science Laboratory report which Uttar Pradesh Police has relied on, to state Hathras victim was not raped, “holds no value” said the Chief Medical Officer of Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU’s) Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, where the 19-year-old was admitted for two weeks.
“The samples were collected 11 days after the woman was allegedly raped, while government guidelines strictly say forensic evidence can only be found up to 96 hours after rape. This report can’t confirm rape in this incident,” Dr Azeem Malik, the CMO, told The Indian Express.
The Dalit woman who was allegedly raped and murdered by four upper caste men, on September 14 provided the details of the alleged sexual assault after she regained consciousness at the AMU hospital on September 22. After her statement was recorded before a magistrate, police had added relevant sections of rape to the FIR.
Following her statement, samples were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, on September 25 – 11 days after the attack. Based on this FSL report the UP Police – maybe unaware of the fact that the evidence becomes weaker after 36 hours of rape – claimed that the woman was not raped.
At a press conference on Thursday, Prashant Kumar, ADG (Law & Order), had said, “As per the FSL (forensic science laboratory) report, no semen or sperm secretion was found in the viscera sample. The post mortem report states that the cause of death was due to trauma caused by the assault. Despite the statements by officials, some wrong information was circulated in the media.”
Dr Hamza Malik, president of the Resident Doctors’ Association at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, called the FSL report “unreliable”.
“How will the FSL team find evidence of rape 11 days later? Sperm doesn’t survive after 2-3 days. They took samples from hair, clothes, nail bed and vaginal-anal orifice; the samples may not show presence of semen because of urination, defecation and menstruation.”
“On September 22, a doctor had conducted a medicolegal investigation on the woman and given a provisional opinion that on the basis of local examination, I am of the opinion that there are signs of use of force”, reports show. The doctor had added: “However, opinion regarding penetrative intercourse is reserved pending availability of FSL reports.”
The September 22 report also mentioned, based on details provided by the woman, that there was “complete penetration of penis in vagina”.
The report said, based on details provided by her, that she was strangulated by dupatta. The section in the report, verbal threats, mentions: “Yes, threat to kill.” The report also mentions the assailants as “Sandeep, Ramu, Luv Kush, Ravi”.
The woman’s post mortem report from Safdarjung Hospital had also stated that her “hymen and anal orifice showed multiple old healed tears”