It is a high-tech DNA lab set up over a year ago to primarily help police investigations in cracking identity-related questions in murders,unnatural deaths,rapes and other cases. But of the 145 cases that the lab got last year,nearly 50 per cent were social cases. Like the case of a 75-year-old man in February this year,who came with two men and two women,aged between 30 and 45 years,claiming to be his children. They were accompanied by an elderly woman who claimed to be his mistress,a court commissioner and a police officer. The case,referred by a court in rural Bailhongal region of Belgaum,was originally filed by the elderly man in 2003 against the four who claimed to be his children and sought legal rights over his properties. The final report of the tests on each of the four claimants and the complainant are being finalised and there could be some surprises, says the head of the DNA centre,Dr T R Kumari. On another day,there was a couple who came with a baby born at Bangalores Vani Vilas hospital. They too were accompanied by a court commissioner and a police officer. The couple claimed that they had delivered a baby boy but the hospital had handed them a baby girl. The DNA tests revealed that no swap had occurred. The DNA centre attached to the Karnataka police,the only one offering DNA testing facilities in the public sector in the state,is turning out to be like a social justice forum with aborted fetuses,stillborn babies and paternity suits queuing up on the labs work benches alongside criminal cases. People come running here since there is increasing awareness that the police DNA centre has the capabilities to resolve these cases. We call them social cases to differentiate them from the regular crime cases, says Dr Kumari. Typically the social cases come to the DNA lab in the form of referrals by police officers or judges who are aware of the existence of DNA testing methods in the state and are willing to take up cases of disputed identities like paternity cases. Circulars have been issued from the office of the director general of police across the state to inform officials of the availability of DNA testing facilities and to make best use of it, says Dr Kumari. In the social cases,samples for conducting the tests are drawn by qualified doctors with written consents in the presence of all the interested parties,a court officer and a police officer to ensure that they are legally valid.
