Delhi Police conducted two rare tests of forensic DNA profiling to establish the alleged involvement of four accused in the gang-rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in outer Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar, with a Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report confirming the presence of “human semen” and “a mixed male DNA profile corresponding to four males on swabs collected from the victim”, officers aware of the findings said on Thursday.
The technique is particularly useful in sexual assault investigations where samples contain a mixture of DNA from a female victim and multiple male contributors.
Investigation and chargesheet
“The CFSL report has been received. It confirms the presence of human semen on the victim’s swabs and a mixed DNA profile corresponding to four different males. The Y-STR profiles of all the accused show a strong match with the male DNA recovered from the victim. A breakthrough came when an assistant sub-inspector noticed a tattoo of three stars in a row on the victim’s left arm. another collected CCTV footage from the surrounding area While one team checked missing-person records.
Police said that the body of the girl was highly decomposed and these scientific tests were essential to link the victim to the accused. A police officer aware of the matter said that the report found that the Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) profiles of all the four accused strongly matched the mixed male DNA profile recovered from the victim’s swabs, corroborating the allegations of sexual assault, a police officer said. The findings support the investigation and corroborate the involvement of the accused,” the officer said.
