Shraddha Walker murder case: Experts question delay in DNA analysis
According to Police, as many as 12 human body parts were recovered on November 13 and sent to a laboratory, which is yet to extract the DNA and match it with Walker's family members.
FollowIn a major turn of events in the ongoing Shraddha Walker murder case, there is no conclusive proof that the body parts recovered are that of Shraddha Walker, and a section of experts have raised questions over the delay in DNA profiling.
On November 12, Aaftab Poonawala was arrested for allegedly killing Walker in May, chopping her body into 35 pieces, which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his Mehrauli residence in South Delhi, before dumping them across the city over several days.
According to Police, as many as 12 human body parts were recovered on November 13 and sent to a laboratory, which is yet to extract the DNA and match it with Walker's family members.
Authorities in the know of things, however, chose to remain tight-lipped on this. "We cannot reveal anything about the body parts found since we have to maintain high secrecy in such cases," Assistant PRO at Forensic Science Laboratory, Rohini, Dr Rajnish Kumar Singh said.
Top forensic experts said though it is immaterial to know details about the laboratories involved in this case, they highlighted that the delay is inexplicable.
According to them, specialists should not ideally take more than 24 hours to ascertain a person's identity from remains even if they are six months old.
Gyaneshwar Chaubey, professor of genetics at Banaras Hindu University, is of the view that 24 hours is a good time to extract the DNA from a year-old human remains even if it is in an unpreserved state.
Also read: Delhi murder: Police discover weapons used by Aaftab Poonawala to chop Shraddha's body
Chaubey was part of the team that solved the 400-year-old murder mystery of Georgia's Queen Ketevan through DNA analysis in 2021.
He further said that when a case of this magnitude can take so much time, one can imagine the pace of the justice delivery system in relatively less highlighted cases.
"The delay is unfortunate and I propose to the government that it should have a special task force involving the country's top DNA experts," Chaubey added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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