Defence alleges woman’s blood sample planted

Alleging discrepancies, the counsel for one of the accused, Usman, said that the blood sample collected from the woman was planted on the trousers of the accused to make sure the DNA samples matched.

The plea also stated that the medical report and the woman’s statement suggested that she had not suffered any external injuries.

The defence lawyer also questioned the discrepancies in the statements of the investigating officer (IO) and the forensic expert over the number of exhibits that were sent for the investigation and was received by the lab.

Contending these allegations, public prosecutor Satvinder Kaur said the exhibits were sent to the forensic lab on November 26, 2010, much before the arrest of the accused on December 2, and that there was no question of tampering with evidence.

Observing that manipulation of blood samples looked “highly improbable”, the judge asked the public prosecutor to reply to the allegations leveled by the defence.

“Since the public prosecutor seeks time to reply to the allegations, the matter is posted for hearing on September 2,” the judge said.

On September 8, the court had reserved judgment after the final arguments were concluded in the case, in which five persons are facing trial.

According to police, Shamshad Usman, Shahid, Iqbal and Kamruddin, had allegedly abducted the woman, a 30-year-old BPO employee from Mizoram on November 24, 2010, while she was walking home with her friend after her shift had ended.

The accused then took the woman to Mangolpuri, gangraped her and left her on an isolated road.

The chargesheet also mentioned that the victim’s friend alerted the police control room.

The accused were later arrested from Mewat, Haryana. The accused are facing trial under sections 376(2)(G) (gangrape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 365 (abduction) of the Indian Penal Code, besides several sections of Arms Act.

While Shamshad and Usman were identified by the woman during the test identification parade (TIP), Kamruddin, Shahid and Iqbal refused to undergo the TIP.