Delhi court grants bail to father in murder case amid doubts about victim’s identity

New Delhi:  A Delhi court has granted bail to a man accused of murdering his daughter, citing doubts about the victim’s identity after a DNA mismatch.

Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Gogne, presiding over the case against Ravinder Chaudhary, acknowledged the strong likelihood that the body recovered from the lake may not belong to the alleged victim, leading to the decision to release the accused on bail.

Chaudhary was accused of strangling his daughter in a fit of rage on January 18, 2020, as she had married against his wishes.

According to the prosecution, the victim’s body was disposed of in a lake in Mohammadpur, Bulandshahr, where it was recovered 12 days later.

The court noted the principal ground for seeking bail, which stemmed from the Forensic Science Laboratory’s (FSL) DNA examination.

The FSL found that the DNA profiles of Chaudhary and his wife did not match the DNA profile drawn from the tooth and bone of the body recovered from the lake.

The defence argued that, as the alleged victim could not be identified as the biological daughter of the accused, Chaudhary’s detention should not be extended. It further contended that all other evidence against the accused was circumstantial and weak.

It was revealed that the post-mortem of another female had been conducted on the same day at the same hospital where the autopsy of the victim took place.

The possibility of switching biological samples between the two deceased females was raised, prompting a repeated DNA test.

The court noted that the two DNA profiles still did not match, raising a strong likelihood that the body recovered from the lake was not that of the accused’s daughter.

Considering the doubts about the victim’s identity and the circumstantial nature of the evidence against Chaudhary, the court deemed it imprudent to extend his custody pending further trial, especially given his three-and-a-half years in custody.

The court directed the accused to submit a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and scheduled the matter for further proceedings on December 21.

–IANS