April 11, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1429

KARACHI, April 10: The DNA profile obtained from the semen and blood samples of the main accused of the gang-rape committed at the Mazar-i-Quaid in March has matched with the DNA analysis of the specimen acquired from the stained cloth of the rape victim, reveals a report prepared by the Islamabad-based Institute of Biomedical and Genetic Engineering (IBGE).

The report states: “Presence of sperm was detected in both DNA samples isolated from the swab slide and stained clothes of the rape survivor whose DNA profile of the stained cloth matched with the DNA profile obtained from the semen and blood samples of the accused. It indicates the involvement of the accused in the crime.”

The report was sent by Professor Dr Abid Azhar, co-DG at Dr A.Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Karachi, to IBGE, Islamabad, on April 1. Prepared by the Principal Scientific Officer, in charge of the DNA Forensic Services, IBGE, Abdul Hameed, the report was approved by Dr Altaf Hussain, adviser to the chairman, IBGE.

The Sindh police, who received the report on Thursday, have sent three more specimens of other suspects for a DNA analysis to Islamabad.

The main accused of the gang-rape, assistant manager for security of the mausoleum, is in police custody against whom an interim charge-sheet has been submitted in court.

The victim, hailing from Lodhran in southern Punjab, was visiting the mausoleum with her family and a group of pilgrims who had earlier visited the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan.

The 18-year-old woman, who had been married for about three months, was asked by her husband to wait for him at the steps of the Quaid’s museum as he walked off to collect some money for museum tickets from his fellow travelers who sat in a bus outside. Found alone, she was taken away at gunpoint by criminals into a room downstairs the mausoleum, drugged and criminally assaulted. She was found at the main gate of the mazar the next morning in a semi-conscious state.

Police will brief the Senate Standing Committee on the case’s progress on Friday.