Kolkata Junior Doctor rape-murder: Why is CBI psychologically assessing the accused?

A psychological profile is a character assessment of the accused, which can be produced in a court of law. The exercise helps understand the psyche of criminals to prevent serious crimes in the future, said the sources.

The profile of the accused, Sanjay Roy, will help the investigators understand the root cause of his violent behaviour. It will also reveal whether the accused had planned the act or if he had the support of co-conspirators or other accused, CBI sources said.

The profiling is being undertaken by a team led by psychological and behavioural experts of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Delhi. The CFSL team, which reached Kolkata a few days ago, first collected evidence from the crime scene, the sources said. “A joint team of CFSL and of AIIMS Delhi are in charge of collecting forensic evidence from the site,” a CBI source said. “We have enough material evidence to back up the case,” the source said.

Asked why the investigators thought of a psychological profile in this particular case, a former CBI officer said the technique is used when either the accused or the witness is not forthcoming with information. “If the investigating officers think that there is more to the confession or statement of the accused, a psychological profile can be undertaken. The exercise is also undertaken when the accused is seemingly uncooperative,” the former officer said.

Besides the investigators, the exercise involves forensic experts and psychologists, who ask questions to the accused and gauge their response.

“In some cases, some questions could elicit an emotional response from the accused, which is noted to understand his character traits. If most questions elicit muted responses, it could be ruled that the accused has no empathy,” a CBI official said.

But psychological profiling is just one of the tools for assessing the character of an accused. The other methods of doing this include polygraph, brain mapping and narcoanalysis. These three tests need the consent of the accused, as per Selvi vs State of Karnataka judgment of the Supreme Court in 2010.  “The three tests can be used to collect further evidence in the case,” a CBI official said.

The CBI has not released any statement on its findings so far, though it has re-registered the FIR after taking over the case.