DNA profiling proves decisive in Perumbavoor case

Kochi, Kerala, 12/12/17. Ameerul Islam, lone accused in the murder and rape of a Dalit woman in Perumbaur, being taken to the court here on Tuesday. Photo: H Vibhu.

From bloodstains to a hard pack of beedis, the prosecution relied on 10 key evidences to prove the involvement of Ameerul Islam in the sensational murder case.

The hunt for the victim was unlike any previous murder investigation; the police had been groping in the dark initially. They even held several suspects in custody, interrogating them simultaneously, though to no avail.

It was not until the investigators could develop the DNA samples of the accused the probe was heading nowhere. According to the prosecution, the DNA samples extracted from the victim’s nail clip, saliva, and bloodstains on the dress and on the door bolt matched with the DNA profile of the accused. Similarly, the investigation team could also develop DNA samples from the knife and footwear used by the accused, which eventually matched with the victim’s profile.

Besides DNA profiling, the investigation team also traced soil samples from the crime scene to the victim’s footwear. And this scientific turn to the investigation that changed the fate of the case drew praises. In its judgement on Tuesday, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court lauded the police for making use of modern and progressive scientific methods to prove the case beyond doubt. “The DNA technology and call data records helped in establishing individual identity of the accused…and proving the charges against the accused beyond any doubt,” Special Judge N. Anil Kumar observed.

Besides the scientific evidences, the accused, during a medical examination, had confessed to having suffered a bite injury on one of his right fingers while smothering the victim. The statement by a woman in the neighbourhood, who had seen Ameerul fleeing the crime scene through the canal on the eastern side, also proved crucial. The investigators could also confirm that the hard pack of beedis and the cigarette lighter recovered from the backyard of the victim’s residence belonged to Ameerul. The beedis and the lighter had been originally recovered by the victim’s mother nearly two months before the crime took place.