Govt procuring sophisticated rape kits

The government is procuring sophisticated 'rape investigation kits' for police stations across the country to collect sensitive biological samples in sexual assault cases.

As a pilot project, officials said, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to procure 3,960 such kits to be distributed among states to enable them to collect blood, semen and other samples in a professional manner.

Recent guidelines issued by the Chandigarh-based Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) has said that the investigators and medical practitioners involved in collecting sample should use Sexual Assault DNA Evidence Collection Kits (SAECK), which has 24 items, including gloves, comb, alcohol swab, sterilised gauze pack and glass slides among others.

Officials said the pilot project's cost is pegged at Rs 79.20 lakh for procuring the kits. Another Rs 4.91 crore is earmarked for providing training to investigators and medical staff of local hospitals on how to use the kits.

Once the project is completely rolled out, officials said, each police station will have at least three kits. During the pilot project, the MHA is planning to provide 100 each kit to states.

The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) will undertake training of officers during 2018-19 and 2019-20 on the collection, storage and transportation of forensic evidence in cases of sexual assault, which includes training on standardised SAECK.

The Lok Narayan Jai Prakash National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences (LNJP NIC&FS) in Delhi would impart training of medical officers from states.

The CFSL guidelines have emphasised the importance of collecting samples in a professional way.

"The goal of crime scene investigation is to identify, document and collect physical and biological evidence at the scene of a crime and must be done with great care and a thoughtful approach since the case under investigation has to be put in the court. Solving the crime depend on piecing together the evidence to form a picture of what happened at the crime scene," it said.