Opposition corners government over 'discrepancies' in forensic tests

BHUBANESWAR: Opposition parties BJP and Congress on Saturday described purported discrepancies in two reports of forensic tests conducted on the Kunduli rape survivor, who killed herself on January 22, as the state government's attempt to cover up the crime.
One forensic test report of the Class IX girl, conducted by the state government-run State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) in Bhubaneswar on October 18 last year, eight days after she alleged rape, showed traces of the semen of two different persons - of blood groups A and B - on her clothes.

After the report was aired on news channels, the laboratory in a press release issued on Friday dubbed it a "preliminary" one. It said the findings in the preliminary report were "not correct" and that a final report - prepared on October 23 after "careful and meticulous examination" of the exhibits by a group of trained scientists through various methods, including DNA profiling - showed no trace of semen on the girl's clothes. Usually, in case of alleged rape, a preliminary forensic test is followed by subsequent tests of more sophistication.

Addressing a press conference here, BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said the discrepancy showed the government had done a massive cover-up. "Otherwise, how can there be such a stark contrast between the two reports of the same laboratory. This is a clear case of cover-up to save the government from embarrassment," he said. Echoing similar views, Congress leader Pradeep Majhi said the investigative agencies had done one mistake after another in the case. "First, they tried to blame the girl's relatives for the rape. Then they said there had been no rape. They seem to have influenced the laboratory to change the report," he said.

SFSL director Purna Chandra Mandal said the laboratory had not been under any pressure from anyone. "We have submitted a fair report," he said. BJD leader and former minister Rabi Narayan Nanda said the opposition was unnecessarily trying to politicise the issue. "The government is committed to a fair probe," he said.