Investigation of 789 cases stalled for DNA reports

A 10-year old child was stabbed to death in Cumilla city on 19 October in 2019. The incident of the killing had no witness. During the investigation, police submitted deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples of some suspects. But the investigation has not seen any headway as police did not get the report of the DNA test.

A seven-year old child was murdered after rape in Chattogram city on 24 October in 2022.  A person arrested over the incident confessed to committing the crime in court. Investigation officer of the case said the primary investigation has been finished but the charge sheet cannot be submitted to the court as the DNA report has not been received yet.

Not only these two cases, the police are unable to complete the investigation of many cases across the country due to lack of DNA reports. DNA samples are tested in two labs in Dhaka in cases that require DNA testing. One of the labs has been closed for a month due to lack of allocation. Moreover, the amended Women and Children Repression Prevention Act has made DNA testing of accused persons and victims mandatory. Because of that, the investigations of the cases are stalled for the DNA test report.

According to police headquarters sources, the investigation of a total of 789 cases under the act was stalled until last December for lack of DNA reports. Among these, the highest 322 cases are from Chittagong city.

Police officers said investigators have been waiting from 1 year to 4 years for DNA test reports in the cases. Many of these cases are for murder and rape. Due to procrastination in the availability of DNA tests, many suspects are languishing in jail for a long time while the wait for justice becomes prolonged for victims and their relatives.

Deputy inspector general (DIG-operations) of police headquarters Md Anwar Hossain (recently promoted to additional inspector general) told Prothom Alo that investigation is being procrastinated due non-availability of DNA reports in many cases that require DNA testing.

Sub inspector Nowsher Qureshi of Kotwali Police Station in Chattogram is the investigating officer of the case of rape and murder of the seven-year-old child. He told Prothom Alo that the investigation of the case is done. The application seeking a DNA test report was submitted soon after the death of the child in October, 2022 but the report is yet to come. That is why the concerned persons are not giving postmortem reports. As a result, the investigation cannot be completed. Police Bureau of Investigation’s (PBI) inspector Md Zakir Hossain, who is investigating the death of the 10-year old child in Cumilla also shared the similar problem.

Until recently, DNA tests were conducted at Forensic DNA Laboratory of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory near Dhaka Medical College Hospital. CID’s lab is operational but the other lab has been closed for around a month. The shut laboratory used to be run under the multisectoral programme of the DNA Laboratory Management Department under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. The Danish International Development Agency (Danida) had been funding this work until recently. However, funding has stopped as the ministry's contract with Danida has expired. An official related to the project said that the test was stopped due to lack of reagent.

So, there is only one laboratory for DNA testing for all cases from across the country right now. The CID’s lab has the capacity of DNA profiling of 20 samples per day. Special superintendent of police Imran Bhuiyan, who is in charge of that lab, told Prothom Alo that they receive about 10,000 cases for DNA testing every year. According to this statistics, the number of daily cases is more than 33. As a result, it takes a long time to test and prepare reports.

A responsible officer of the police headquarters told Prothom Alo that rape cases in Bangladesh are tried according to the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act of 2000. The Act had no provision for DNA and chemical tests. In 2020, the act was amended and new provisions were added in this regard. Section 32-A requires that in case of all offences committed under the act, DNA examinations have to be done for both victims and the accused persons irrespective of their consent to such examinations.

The police officer said the investigation gets delayed due to procrastination in getting the DNA test report. He said necessary action should be taken including setting up DNA testing labs in every divisional city.

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust’s (BLAST) senior lawyer Sifat-E-Nur told Prothom Alo many victims conduct medical tests late while many victims unknowingly damage evidence. As a result, DNA testing is very important to identify the real criminal. DNA testing is especially important in cases of rape, sexual harassment and murder. However, due to shortage of labs and manpower, a long time is taken from collection of DNA samples to testing in the lab.

It is necessary to speed up the process of DNA testing like other legal steps to hasten the investigation. Otherwise, investigation of cases would become a lengthier affair.