By Muslim Mirror Staff
The Chief Medical Officer of the Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU’s) Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, where Hathras gang- rape victim was admitted initially, has discredited the FSL report, which was presented by the Uttar Pradesh police as proof to claim that she was not raped.
Dr Azeem Malik told The Indian Express that the FLC report “holds no value” as 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 the incident.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras by several men on 14 September. She died at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital on Tuesday morning and her body was cremated by police officers, allegedly her family’s consent.
Speaking to Muslim Mirror, a medical officer at the Aligarh hospital said that the woman was admitted to the hospital on 14 September but she or any of her family members did not tell about the sexual assault till 22 September. He added that the victim’s mother has said that she wanted to cover up the incident as she believed that people will look down at her if she survives.
It was after her statement being recorded by the police on 22 September that the samples was collected and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Agra, which received them on September 25 – 11 days after the attack.
It was based on this FSL report that Prashant Kumar, additional director general (law and order) of Uttar Pradesh police cited the absence of sperm in samples as proof that the victim was not raped and the matter was “twisted to stir caste tension.”
Kumar also cited the post mortem report allegedly saying that the victim died due to her neck injury, in order to back his claim.
However, the medicolegal certificate (MLC) prepared by the Aligarh hospital smashes the Uttar Pradesh police claim that she was not raped.
The MLC recorded a “complete penetration” of her vagina, “strangulation” and “gagging”.
The medical examiner Dr. Faiz Ahmed, assistant professor at the JNMCH, concluded, “On the basis of local examination, I am of the opinion that there are signs of use of force. However, opinion regarding penetrative intercourse is reserved pending availability of FSL reports.”
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.” He told The Indian Express.