Nearly three months after Pascal Mazurier, the consular attaché to the Consulate General of France in Bengaluru, was arrested for allegedly raping his then three-and-a- half-year-old daughter, it is reliably learnt that the initial vaginal and anal swabs of the victim, taken at the Baptist Hospital on June 13, reportedly do not contain her DNA, according prosecution lawyer Pramila Nesargi.
The case, which rests largely on the crucial forensic evidence, may take a complete 360 degree turn if the evidence is weak and faulty. Ms Nesargi alleged that there was something “grossly wrong” with the way evidence (the swabs) have been collected and transported to the DNA laboratory at Madiwala. “The swabs were not taken out of the hospital in our presence. We do not even know which swab was given for the vital DNA test. They should have sent the swabs to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad,” she told this newspaper. She said that she would request the court to implead her in the bail hearing of the accused on September 10.
The victim’s mother Suja Jones had taken her daughter to the Collaborative Child Response Unit at Baptist Hospital on June 13 for a medical examination following the alleged rape. The Hospital reportedly confirmed that the child was raped. Ms Jones then lodged a complaint against her husband at the High Grounds police station for sexually assaulting their minor daughter following which the police registered an FIR against Mr Mazurier under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code. Mr Mazurier was arrested on June 19 and remanded to judicial custody and lodged at the Central Prison at Parapanna Agrahara. Police had collected his blood samples for a DNA test. The DNA report suggested that there was no evidence of spermatic fluid on the foreside and backside of the swabs of the victim, but the stain on the garments matched the DNA of the accused.