Roots of forensic dates back to Chanakya's days: Rajnath Singh

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday that the roots of forensic science dates ages back. Speaking at the inauguration of the 24th All India Forensic Science conference, Singh stressed on the importance of forensic science.

Addressing forensic experts who had come from across the country, Singh said, "The word forensics and its techniques have been helping crime and justice for years. Panchari, in his book Arthashashtra, described that scientific reason behind death should be probed. You will be surprised to know that in olden times, an accused would be given rice ball (chawal ka gola) to keep in the mouth and immediately vomit it out. If there was less saliva on the rice ball, it was believed that he/she was an accused as fear causes less saliva production. Based on the analysis of saliva, accused was punished. Even if it was not a foolproof method, we can see the roots of forensics that dates ages back."

"There was no progress in forensic science during the British rule though they brought forensic labs some 150 years ago. With the progress in science and technology, increase in population and new ways of crime, forensics has been gaining importance. There was a time when a witness defined the case status. However, a few years later, the witness would change his/her statements and the accused would take advantage of it. Hence, forensic reports are more credible than witness statements," he added.

The radicalisaion threat is growing in the country. People feel that the government needs to make stricter norms to reduce crime. However, I think detection is the biggest deterrent. The accused should fear that he will be caught immediately, and that will reduce crimes."