Cops seek aid to clear cloud over rape

After confusion among health and forensic experts over their probe into the alleged rape and murder of three minors in Bhandara, the police have decided to seek help from three forensic experts from different parts of the country, whose job will be to study the videos of the girls’ post-mortem to ascertain if they had indeed been raped.

The police had announced that they had been raped and murdered based on the post-mortem report of the Bhandara civil surgeon. But a DNA report of the samples collected from the girls’ bodies emerged negative for the  presence of any male DNA, raising a cloud of doubt over whether the girls had been raped. Later, another test revealed that their death was a result of drowning.

Superintendent of the Bhandara police Aarti Singh said, “We want a second opinion on the health experts’ reports, so we approached the forensic experts. They will go through the post-mortem videos and are likely to submit to report within a week.”

Sources said investigators have not ruled out the rape and murder theory, and despite having detained a few suspects, they are yet to establish anything concrete.
The panel includes forensic head of JJ hospital and KEM Hospital, Dr SD Nanadkar and Dr Harish Pathak, respectively, along with the ex-director of the forensic department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr T D Dogra.

The three girls were reported missing on February 14. Their bodies were found two days later in a well near a farmhouse about 500m from their village, Murmadi. No arrests have been made in the case yet.

@Santosh_Andhale