Evidence was sent to Delhi for forensic tests, and despite the washed clothing of the victim, the lab found a spot of blood that is said to have tied everything together.
New Delhi: It apparently took just one spot of blood — invisible to the naked eye — on the frill of a frock to crack the Kathua gangrape and murder case.
The blood is said to have confirmed that the frock was worn by the eight-year-old Bakerwal girl during the crime, and allegedly tied together all other pieces of evidence found at the scene of the crime.
But for that to happen, the evidence had to be sent from Jammu to Delhi for forensic tests. The absence of modern and advanced forensic technology in the Jammu region forced the J&K Police to seek help from the Forensic Science Laboratory, run by the home department of the Delhi government.
On 23 February, the Jammu & Kashmir DGP sent a special messenger to Delhi home secretary Manoj Paridha. The messenger, a DSP-ranked officer from the CID posted in the Delhi unit of the J&K Police, visited Paridha with the letter and pressed upon the urgency of the matter.
“We were approached, and there was no debate on not taking the case up. The case was sensitive and needed to be fast-tracked. We had to take it up,” O.P. Mishra, additional secretary in the Delhi government’s home department, told ThePrint.
14 packets of evidence
The Forensic Science Laboratory received 14 packets of evidence between 1 March and 21 March.
A few of these packets are said to have helped confirm the juvenile accused’s presence at the Devisthan, the alleged scene of the crime.
“Two parcels were sent in to make doubly sure of the identity of the juvenile accused in the case, and the efforts bore fruit. The potency test and DNA of the accused were brought in. A third parcel had two strands of hair that matched the DNA and the sample of hair taken from the Devisthan,” a source at the lab told ThePrint.
The crucial spot of blood
The toughest part, it is learnt, was getting evidence off the washed clothing, to confirm that it had indeed been worn by the victim.
The source said the frock was divided into a few pieces and analysed, and a few hours into the investigation, a team member found a spot of blood on the frill of the frock. The spot matched the viscera sample as well, and confirmed that the blood belonged to the victim.
“This strengthened the case further and we solved the puzzles one by one,” a top official of the lab said.