Indrani’s counsel: Why did FSL not take DNA samples of Sheena’s father?

The lawyer of Indrani, a prime accused in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, on Monday asked the assistant director of the Forensic Science Laboratory why DNA

The lawyer of Indrani, a prime accused in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, on Monday asked the assistant director of the Forensic Science Laboratory why DNA samples of the victim’s father were not obtained to compare it with the remains of the body, which was found in Pen village in 2015 and later identified as Bora’s.

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Indrani’s lawyer Sudeep Pasbola was cross-examining Shrikant Lade, a prosecution witness who was the author of Bora’s DNA report. Lade had in his examination by the prosecution deposed that DNA analysis of Indrani’s blood sample and the left femur bone found among the remains at Pen had revealed that she was Bora’s biological mother.

Pasbola on Monday asked the expert if the samples from Bora’s biological father — Siddhartha Das — were obtained to match it with the remains of the body parts found in Pen. Lade replied that the father’s samples were not made available, even though his senior had asked the police officers investigating the case for the same. The expert was later asked about the importance of matching the samples with both parents. Lade replied that matching samples from both parents with the body parts would have helped establish perfect biological parentage. However, he later said that to establish maternity, the mother’s samples are enough.

When questioned about the purpose of obtaining the DNA profile of Indrani’s driver Shyamwar Rai after his arrest, Lade said that though the sample was obtained, the officers did not ask them to match it with any other samples