Danish gang-rape: 'DNA of accused matched with victim's samples'

New Delhi: The prosecution in the gang-rape case of a 52-year-old Danish woman has got a shot in the arm with a forensic expert telling a Delhi court that the DNA profile of the accused persons have matched with the samples collected from the victim's clothes.

Deposing as a prosecution witness, D S Paliwal, senior scientific assistant (Biology) at Forensic Science Laboratory, Delhi, told Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja that DNA profile of the accused persons matched with the DNA profile from clothes of the woman, a blanket and other articles.

He, however, denied the suggestion given by defence counsel that he had prepared a forged and false report without examining the exhibits at the instance of the investigating officer or the investigating agency, i.e. Delhi Police.

"It is wrong to suggest that I have prepared and examined the exhibits without following due process. It is wrong to suggest that I am deposing falsely," the witness said, adding that 60 parcels relating to the case were received at FSL Rohini for examination.

Paliwal, in his examination-in-chief through Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava, also deposed that he has seen the report prepared by Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Copenhagen in Denmark and he was of the opinion that there were similarity in both the reports.

"It is wrong to suggest that I have wrongly deposed that there are similarity in the reports prepared by me and report prepared at Copenhagen," he said.

The court has fixed November 21 for recording statements of other prosecution witnesses.

The police, in its charge sheet, has said that the nine accused, all vagabonds, had allegedly robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point that night after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers' Club near New Delhi Railway Station on the night of January 14 last year.

The accused, including three juveniles, were arrested. The three juveniles are facing an inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).

The six adult accused - Mahendra alias Ganja (24), Mohd Raja (22), Raju (23), Arjun (21), Raju Chakka (22) and Shyam Lal (55), are in judicial custody and facing trial.

The nine accused have been booked on charges of gangrape and robbery or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt under IPC.

Earlier, depositions of the victim and two Danish police officers, who had come here from Denmark in pursuance to summons, were also recorded by the court.

During an in-camera hearing on July 1, the woman had narrated to the judge the entire incident and identified three of the six adult accused as the ones who had gangraped her. However, while deposing before JJB, she had turned hostile and failed to identify the three minor offenders.