In its final opinion on the Hathras victim, the Department of Forensic Medicine of Aligarh Muslim University’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital has said there were no signs suggestive of vaginal/anal intercourse. It further said there was evidence of physical assault (injuries over the neck and the back).
The report prepared on Saturday and signed by Dr Sadiya Saeed, Chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine, said it was in reference to the FSL report number 4807-Bio-2020, conducted at the government lab in Agra. The FSL report said the investigation didn’t find any sperm in the samples.
This has come after the medico-legal case report prepared at the JNMCH on September 22 noted “complete penetration” and “loss of consciousness at the time of the incident”. The opinion of the doctor in the MLC said, “on the basis of the 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.”
Hamza Malik, president of AMU’s Resident Doctors’ Association said the final opinion was based on the FSL report. “The forensic examination was conducted on September 22, eight days after the incident. In cases of rape, according to government guidelines, the forensic samples should be collected within 72 hours of the incident. Sperms can’t survive after more than 90 hours,” he said.
He said if the observations in MLC report are read with certain findings in the autopsy report, the picture would be different. “Besides, how could you discount the dying declaration of the victim which is crucial in such cases. In such sensitive cases, nobody should reach a conclusion on half-truths.”
The referral slip of Hathras hospital prepared on September 14 said as the girl was in a serious condition, no MLC was done before referring her to the JNMCH.
Sources in the Aligarh hospital said as the girl was unconscious because of a fracture in C6 vertebrae, nobody thought of the physical examination of the victim’s private parts. “Usually, we do it when either the police of the family members complain of sexual assault. In this case, maybe because of social pressures, the family members didn’t say anything to this effect where she was admitted,” he said.