Swab sample led to woodcutter’s arrest

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 26

The swab sample of a bite on the breast of the minor victim of rape in Kotkhai helped matching the DNA of the accused which cracked the blind murder case.

Earlier, there was confusion due to samples found in the left vaginal wall of the victim but the state forensic laboratory, Junga, pointed out that only one person was involved in the brutal act. Country liquor found on the spot indicated the involvement of some low-profile person.

The CBI was not sure of the spot and was shuttling between the Haliala forest near Kotkhai and Shimla and it was the forensic experts who helped in fixing the spot which was the same from where the body was recovered on July 6 last year.

The DNA sample collected from the bottle of country liquor further established the identity of the accused who reportedly had a criminal past and was in hiding. The accused did not leave his hideout as it would have created doubt. He did not use mobile phones

The arrest of key accused Anil Kumar alias Nilu in the case has debunked the gangrape theory propounded by the Special Investigation team (SIT) of the Himachal Police. The claims they had made on July 13 that they had sufficient circumstantial, physical, scientific evidence and confessional statements have been proved wrong.

The case hogged the limelight due to the social media. The pictures of some persons posted on former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s Facebook page created confusion and the criminal act assumed political dimensions.

The CBI also tried to follow the money trail but finally it was found that there was no such transaction as the accused was a wood cutter with no political contacts. The tearing haste shown by SIT, which arrested six innocent persons, to take credit for solving the case brought a bad name to the police.

The irate people were not convinced that SIT had arrested the real culprits and the matter flared up following the custodial death of Suraj, one of the six accused arrested by SIT in the Kotkhai police station on the night of July 18.

Unanswered questions

• Some people have doubts on the CBI probe and are questioning that how one person can commit such a brutal crime?
• What was the connection of the boys whose photographs were uploaded on former CM Virbhadra Singh’s Facebook page?
• Why did the police frame innocent labourers in the case?

‘Tribune highlighted DNA matching earlier’

• The Tribune had reported on July 31 last year that only DNA matching could solve this case and mentioned that the forensic evidence pointed out that the victim was killed on July 4 and the body was lying in open as lakhs of eggs were found on the victim’s body. Samples taken from the clothes pointed out that the eggs had developed into larvae and gone to the extent of uterus which implied that the victim was not killed on the day the body was recovered.
• A large number of flies were also seen in the photographs taken for the forensic examination and the presence of maggots on the body of the victim was a clear indication that the body was lying outside and not in a room as flies appeared only after the body starts decomposing and emitted foul smell.