CHANDIGARH RAPE: DNA OF BABY, ACCUSED DON’T MATCH

CHANDIGARH: The lawyer of the man accused of raping his 10-year-old niece claimed on Tuesday that his client’s DNA did not match that of the baby born to the rape victim. The DNA test result gives a dramatic twist to the case, which came to light when the victim was 30 weeks pregnant. The matter had caught national attention after a public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court, seeking termination of her pregnancy.

“At this moment, I can only say that the DNA of the accused does not match that of the newborn,” lawyer Manjeet Singh told media after the hearing in a city court in the afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Hindustan Times had cited a report of CFSL, Chandigarh, which stated that the DNA of the newborn didn’t match with that of the accused.

It is learnt that the Chandigarh administration law officer has written to city SSP informing her about the development. However, the SSP, Nilambari Vijay Jagdale, refused to comment.

The accused, a resident of Sector 37, was booked for raping his 10-year-old niece in July.

The case came to light when the victim was 30 weeks pregnant. It caught national attention after a public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court seeking termination of her pregnancy. The apex court constituted a medical board of experts from the PGIMER to ascertain whether the foetus could be terminated.