The Bombay High Court has held that a DNA test cannot be said to be conclusive evidence in case of a rape, and can only be used as corroborative evidence. The court observed this while rejecting the bail plea of a man booked for raping a 14-year-old girl. On July 26, Justice Bharati H Dangre passed the order while hearing the bail plea filed by the man who was arrested on September 11, 2020, by the Navi Mumbai Police for raping the minor. The man was booked under Sections of the IPC as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. According to the police complaint registered by the girl's mother, her family resided in a slum adjoining the building where the man stayed. In February 2020, the man, along with his wife, had requested the complainant to send her daughter, then 14 years old, to look after their children — aged six and one. Later, when the girl was being treated for stomach pain, she disclosed that the man had repeated sexual intercourse with her forcibly when his wife was out of town. The girl later became pregnant and the foetus could not be terminated. The court noted that the girl’s medical examination did not reveal any evidence of sexual intercourse since she was examined after seven months. The DNA analysis of the foetus excluded the man as the biological father of the child. Advocate Nelson Rajan PV, representing the accused, sought his client's release while relying on the DNA report. It was opposed by advocate Ameeta Kuttikrishnan, appearing for the girl's mother. “.The DNA test excluded the applicant as the father of the child, but that does not discredit the victim who has reiterated in her statement that the applicant forcibly committed sexual intercourse with her." Justice Dangre noted, “.The DNA test cannot be said to be the conclusive evidence regarding a rape, but it can only be used as a corroborative evidence.”
