Thursday, March 12, 2015

MAN GIVEN LIFE FOR RAPE AND MURDER BASED ON BITE MARKS ON VICTIM

KEM expert helps cops nail criminal using dental forensics; first such case in Maharashtra.

A forensic odontologist from KEM Hospital, the only such expert in Maharashtra, has helped the state procure a life term for a rapist and murderer by matching bite marks found on his 14-year-old victim's body to the 34-year-old man's dental profile. According to A R Kotikhane, the public prosecutor who tried the case, this is the first instance of a forensic odontology being employed to obtain a conviction in a Maharashtra court.

The Parbhani police, tasked with investigating the case, lacked sufficient forensic evidence to link the perpetrator, Irfan Afroz Sannulla Farroque, to the crime, which he committed in October. All they had to go on was a set of bite marks discovered on the body of the girl, an orphan, who had been violated sexually and strangled to death.





Dr. Hemalata Pandey (top) matched the accused man Farroque’s dental profile (above) to bite marks found on the 14-year-old victim’s body


Dr. Hemalata Pandey, the odontologist who performed the procedure, was able to prove that the bite marks found on the girl's body were caused by Farroque.

The POCSO court hearing the case held that Dr. Pandey's work afforded sufficient cause to convict the accused. Judge Y G Chaware, in his order, noted that, "The evidence of the prosecution is consistent and sufficient to prove that the accused has committed rape on [the] deceased [girl] and [has] also murdered her."

According to the police, the victim lived with her elder sister, who worked as a housemaid in Parbhani. In October, the sister returned home to find the 14-year-old girl unconscious, and naked. The young girl was declared dead at a government hospital in the neighbourhood.

Her sister told investigators that Farroque had been seen in the vicinity in the past and was known to stalk the girl.

The police detained him as a suspect, collected a sample of his blood and dispatched it to Kalina. Investigators were told results would only be ready in ten months' time. The police turned to Dr. Pandey for help. The odontologist examined photographs of the girl's body and obtained impressions of Farroque's teeth. She was able to establish that the 12 bite marks on the victim's person matched the accused man's dental profile.

According to the police, this is only the second instance that a forensic odontologist's expertise was sought in prosecuting a murder and rape case - the first being the 2013 Nirbhaya trial in Delhi.

Tags: Dental Forensic, Dental Impression, Police case, dental forensic scope in india, abroad,study, research, helpline,

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