Can’t determine ‘time of origin’ of bloodstains found in Talwar house: Senior CFSL scientist

SK Singhla, senior scientist from CFSL and prosecution witness in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder, said in court on Tuesday that he could not determine the exact "time of origin" of the bloodstains in the Talwar house and on its terrace.

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are facing trial for the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj. While Aarushi's body was found in her room on May 16, 2008, Hemraj's body was found on the terrace of the house the next day.

In response to a question from the defence counsel, Singhla said, "I have not written in my report that the bloodstains were old. However, I cannot tell if the bloodstains are from the night of May 15 and 16, or from either May 16 or May 17."

During the course of the trial, the CBI has maintained that the stains going upwards to the terrace were from events on the night of the murder, while the defence had said that the stains appeared the day after the murder, when bloodstained mattresses were dragged upstairs for disposal.

The defence also questioned the veracity of the witness's examination. They raised doubts on Singhla's presence in the Talwar home on June 1, 2008, one of the two days on which evidence was collected by the CFSL team.

"I had gone to the house on that day with the CFSL team. The inspection memo of June 1 does not mention my name, but it is wrong to say that I only went on June 2," Singhla said.

Singhla also told court that while the blood from samples found on the khukri had no "human blood", it also did not seem to match that of a "common animal".

Singhla told the court of Additional Sessions Judge Shyam Lal: "A test for animal blood was also conducted. The blood was not found to be of a cow, buffalo, goat, chicken or any other common animal. I cannot tell what species the blood comes from," he said.

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