Oral testimony that the victim and suspect were last seen together, forensic proof and CCTV images were among the body of evidence that convinced the trial court to convict 23-year-old engineer S. Daswant of the rape and murder of a seven-year-old child at Mugalivakkam here last year.
Murugan, the child’s neighbour, testified that on February 5 last year, between 6.00 and 6.15 p.m., he saw the girl playing with the accused and his dog on the second floor.
He noticed them when he had gone to the terrace to fetch clothes that he had hung out to dry. This piece of oral evidence proved that the child was last seen with the accused on the day of the crime, when her parents were away.
‘Last seen with’ theory
The ‘last seen with’ theory is a crucial postulate that helps law enforcers nail the accused in murder cases.
As the girl’s body was burnt by Daswant, scientific evidence was required to establish the victim’s identity. Pushparani, scientific officer in the Forensic Science Department, deposed that she had used the superimposition technique to compare the head with photographs of the child and establish that the head was that of the victim.
Nirmala Bai, an expert from the Forensic Science Lab, gave evidence that the DNA of semen stains on pieces of inner wear seized from the spot and the DNA drawn from blood samples of Daswant were the same.
V. Kannadasan, advocate who appeared for the child’s father, the de facto complainant, said the neighbour’s testimony and the evidence given by the scientific officers played a major role in obtaining the conviction.
Pat for police personnel
Assistant Commissioner of Police K. Kannan said, “The victory was due to hard work done by all police personnel who were part of the investigation. The trial was quickly concluded.”
Mr. Kannan said, Daswant lured the child inside his flat under the pretext of letting her play with a dog. After committing the offence, he kept the body under his bed. He himself called the police control room to report about the missing child. While we were searching for her, he took the body in a travel bag on his bike on the sly and dumped it under the Anakaputhur bridge, 16 km away. Later, he kept pretending to search for her. He even asked the police to have a look at whatever CCTV footage he showed. “As he showed undue interest in the subject, we had a strong suspicion. The CCTV footage from the apartment showed him too.”
Narrating further, Mr. Kannan said, “Our sustained interrogation revealed that he took the body in his bike after he sexually assaulted the child and murdered her. He bought petrol to set the body on fire. His debit card details and the CCTV footage from the petrol pump also proved to be crucial evidence.”
