V R Rathod and M K Malve
Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories, India
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Forensic Res
A criminal while committing the act of crime tries to avoid being seen or heard. In the act of crime he tries to control his movement. But in the fear of being heard or seen, this controlled movement is not possible. The uncontrolled steps in the commission of crime may serve evidential material like fingerprint, footprint, hair, fibers, clothes, blood/semen deposits, paint scratches etc. These materials can act as a mute witness against criminal and are impartial. The study of evidences has two purposes one is to determine guilt or innocence, second is to locate the accused or in other words, linking of the victims and the accused to the crime scene. The range and diversity of material evidence is indeed unlimited. It can be man-made or naturally occurring. In the present case, the person was murdered and his body was burnt beyond recognition. On the crime scene, burnt bones and a stone was found, on which small blood stain and few hairs were stuck. DNA profiling, the advanced technique for identification of an individual was applied. DNA was extracted from this naturally preserved blood stain and profiled. The DNA profiling of the son of missing person was also carried out. The Identifiler and Y-filer of son matched with the DNA profile of the blood stain detected on stone. Though whole body was destroyed but it was from the small naturally preserved blood stain, the missing person was identified.
V R Rathod has completed her PhD from Mumbai University in the year 2008. She joined Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories, Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai in the year 1994. She has visited several scene of crime and assisted investigating officer in various medico-legal cases. She is one of the pioneers in establishing DNA profiling techniques in the laboratory. She has published about 10 papers in reputed national and international journals. She has also presented her work in several national and international conferences. She has organized workshops on forensic and forensic awareness week for students. She has successfully analysed several medico-legal cases by using DNA
Email: varsha_rathod@hotmail.com
Journal of Forensic Research received 1817 citations as per Google Scholar report