Imphal: The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report in connection with the alleged murder of two Manipur women inside a car wash in Imphal East district’s Porompat area on 4 May suggests no evidence of rape was found, ThePrint has learnt.
The report, according to sources, states that “no semen” or “foreign saliva” was detected in the vaginal swabs sent for examination.
The autopsy report was inconclusive but found that the “organs of generation (reproductive organs of a female) were found to be intact”.
The cause of death in both cases, was recorded to be “shock and haemorrhage resulting from incised wounds and stabs”.
According to the law, however, IPC Section 376 or rape charges can be invoked if there is an “introduction (to any extent) by a man of his penis, into the vagina, the anus or urethra or mouth of any woman or child”.
The introduction to any extent by a man of an “object or a part of the body (other than the penis) into the vagina or anus or urethra of a woman”, too, constitute an offence under IPC 376.
“The above findings rule out penetration or insertion of any foreign object in the private parts of the deceased. It also proves that no foreign saliva, apart from the victim’s own, was present on the body,” a forensic expert who did not wish to be named said.
“However, the definition of rape has expanded beyond just penetration. It is up to the police on what the investigation throws up, what charges they put in the chargesheet based on the evidence gathered and how the court looks at it,” the expert added.
“The FSL and postmortem reports are just one aspect of the case.”
Aparna Bhat, a senior lawyer working on crimes against women, said that, in a case of rape, evidence apart from just medical reports are taken into consideration. Even if medical reports do not suggest rape, circumstantial evidence is sustainable.
“Who knows under what circumstances the bodies were received. Forensics cannot be conclusive based on which charges can be dropped,” she said. “Circumstantial evidence, too, needs to be taken into account. Just saying ‘no presence of semen or saliva’ does not rule out rape,” she added.
According to a Manipur Police source, since the postmortem exam did not throw up any conclusive results, the vaginal swabs were sent for further examination. The source also said that although the charge of rape may be dropped during the filing of the chargesheet, it still remains part of the FIR.
“A report of the FSL was received, which suggests that the women were not raped. This, however, does not take away from the fact that they were brutally assaulted, stabbed and killed by a mob. Since the mother of one of the girls had made allegations of rape, it is still part of the FIR. We are making all efforts to identify the people and make arrests,” the officer said.
“Only when the investigation is complete and we file a chargesheet, we can say that rape could not be established. In this case, it is likely to happen since it is very difficult to get circumstantial evidence as there are no eyewitnesses,” the officer added.
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The case
The two women, a 24-year-old and her 21-year-old friend, were allegedly attacked by a mob, and thrashed, brutally assaulted and stabbed multiple times. The mob then allegedly took them away from the car wash in Imphal where they both worked.
The incident happened on 4 May, a day after the ongoing ethnic violence broke out in Manipur, which has so far claimed 160 lives and displaced over 50,000 people.
According to police sources, the women were found in a semi-conscious state on the same day and rushed to hospital around 8.30 pm, but succumbed to their injuries around 11 pm.
“The women were in bad shape. They were beaten up brutally and had multiple stab wounds and cuts on their bodies. They, however, told us their names and that is how we could ascertain their identity,” a senior police officer, privy to the case, told ThePrint.
On 6 May, the postmortem examination of the bodies was carried out, following which doctors said the cause of death was shock and haemorrhage due to their injuries, sources said.
To ascertain if the women were sexually assaulted, their vaginal swabs were preserved for further examination as the postmortem did not throw up conclusive results in this regard.
After the women died, an FIR was registered suo-motu by the police under sections pertaining to murder, causing grievous hurt using dangerous weapon, assault or criminal force with an intent to outrage modesty, kidnapping or abducting with an intent to murder, and wrongful confinement — at Porompat police station.
On 16 May, a Zero FIR was registered at the Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district, based on a complaint filed by the mother of one of the girls, alleging that they were raped.
“The girl’s mother alleged rape and filed a separate FIR at Saikul police station on 16 May. When it came to us, we realised that we had already registered a case of murder in this incident on 4 May itself, so we clubbed the two,” the source said. “In the current FIR, the sections of rape are present as that was alleged by the girl’s mother,” the source added.
ThePrint first reported the incident involving the two women on 12 July. A week later, a video surfaced of two other Kuki women (also mentioned in the 12 July report) being stripped and paraded in Manipur, creating ripples across the country.
It jolted the Manipur administration, the central government and the Supreme Court, and finally forced them to take note of the sexual violence perpetrated against women during the ethnic riots in the state.
But the 26-second clip was only a glimpse of how innocent women fell prey to mobs.
Also Read: ‘Confessed to joining mob in interest of Meiteis’: Mother of man arrested over Manipur video
‘Locked inside, assaulted’
ThePrint also met the relatives of the two women, who said the duo was assured by the owner of the car wash that they would be safe there.
According to the sister of one of the women, they last spoke to each other around 3 pm on 4 May, just hours before she was killed.
In the six-minute call, the frightened 21-year-old assured her family that she and her friend — who was from the same village — were staying put at the car wash, the sister said.
The Meitei-dominated city was under curfew and large mobs were allegedly on the lookout for Kukis.
The father of one of the women alleged that the mob specifically asked for the “two Kukis working at the car wash”. An eyewitness also told the families of the women that the mob dragged them “from under a bed where they were hiding and beat them up for 10 minutes before taking them to a room and locking it from the inside”.
The relatives alleged that their co-workers could hear the women screaming but no one could save them from the mob.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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