Use of DNA test limps for lack of laws, funds

Scientists at work at the DNA lab at Dhaka Medical College(below).Photo: STAR

Application of DNA test in the criminal investigation process has opened a new opportunity for identifying criminals but in the absence of specific laws and enough funds to set up more than one DNA lab in the country, the fruits of DNA technology could not be reached the mass level.
Investigators have been using DNA tests in solving criminal cases since 2006 but still the plaintiffs have to depend on the judges' discretionary power in accepting DNA test in the investigation process as there is no law making the test mandatory for the accused.
The evidence act now being followed in the trial of criminal cases was enacted in 1872. A revised evidence act is being formulated and the experts are working to include a section on DNA technology in it, sources said.
Enacting a new set of laws on the use of DNA technology can speed up the judicial process and lessen the time of trial in many ways, said experts.
The lone DNA laboratory of the country, officially named as the National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory, has been set up at the Dhaka Medical College under Multisectoral Programme on Violence Against Women, a DANIDA-funded project of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
The lab deals with the police cases that carry a court order for DNA test.
Dr Abul Hossain, the project director, said that at present DNA tests are accepted in court as 'scientific evidence' under the evidence act of 1872 but the court cannot force any person to do the test.
“We cannot say about the success of the cases that need DNA tests. We do not follow the development of the cases,” he said.
Dr Sharif Akhteruzzaman, national technical adviser and head of the laboratory, said that new laws on the use of DNA technology in investigation process and the validity of the test as evidence in the court can speed up trials and save time of investigation.
“In many countries DNA technology is being used as a tool to convict murders, rapists and other criminals. In Bangladesh the practice has initiated but a new set of laws will be needed to keep it going,” he said.
“So far we have not faced any problem with accepting DNA tests in court. Almost all the judges have shown positive attitude,” he added.
Rape cases are hard to solve as the suspects mostly do not agree to do DNA tests. “Often rape cases do not see success. In most cases police cannot produce the suspect to the lab because either they cannot arrest them or the suspects do not agree to do DNA tests,” said Dr Sharif.
“Without the tests we cannot reach any conclusion and the victims don't get the benefits. This is a very frustrating picture,” he added.
Supreme Court lawyer Khan Saifur Rahman said, “If a suspect refuses to do DNA test then there is nothing court can do. Therefore, new laws are needed to force suspects to do the test. For an example, the case of seven children of the former DIG of police Anisur Rahman remained unsolved after the DIG refused to do DNA test to prove his paternity.”
Judges, lawyers and magistrates should be trained so that they can understand properly what a DNA profile is. Often a scientific officer has to go to the court to decipher the test results, which would not have been needed if the legal experts knew about it.
“As most lawyers don't know about DNA tests when a scientific officer goes to court he is asked simple questions like 'Is the DNA test authentic?' There is virtually no one to challenge him. But in the developed countries where the legal experts know a lot about DNA profiles they can ask clever and relevant questions which stops experts from changing the results using unfair means,” said a scientific officer of the lab.
However, uncertainty looms on whether this highly sophisticated technology can be brought to the mass level in a country where basic forensic services like viscera reports take months to deliver.
Dr Shahdeen Malik, advocate, Supreme Court, said, “We are yet to implement basic forensic technologies like collecting fingerprints in the investigation process at the mass level. At this stage it is hard to say how far this highly sophisticated DNA technology can brought to the mass people.”
One of the setbacks is high operating cost of a DNA laboratory, which is around Tk 1 crore a year. A DNA analyser, the main appliance of a DNA laboratory, costs Tk 1.5 crore apart from computers and other equipment.
Carrying out a DNA test is way too expensive for common people as the initial charge is Tk 5,000 and the total cost is no less than Tk 35,000. Either the defendant or the plaintiff pays the charge. If they are unable to pay then the charge is borne by the police but in many cases police do not have enough funds to pay these costs.
“At present the laboratory is being run under the DANIDA. The project will run until 2010. After that the government will have to bear the cost of the laboratory. If the service has to be brought to the mass level then more labs need to be set up, which means more costs. But we are trying to prepare the government to bear the costs before the project ends,” said Dr Sharif.
“To ensure uninterrupted service from the scientific officers it is needed to bring their jobs under the revenue budget to integrate them into government service otherwise they will remain in uncertainty and seek jobs elsewhere,” he said.
More labs are also needed as the existing one, working with six scientific officers and six lab technicians, is overloaded with work, said sources.
In 2006, the first year, the lab worked on 28 cases and in 2007 it worked on 176 cases. The increase is a result of awareness campaign by the scientific officers. They gave training to five target professional groups, judges, magistrates, lawyers, police and forensic doctors, so that they can identify the cases that need DNA tests.
More than 50 percent cases of the lab are paternity cases. The rest are related with rape, dead body identification and immigration. It takes 7 to 10 days to do a test for paternity cases, 15 days for rape cases and around one month for dead body identification. In case of dead body identification DNA test takes longer time as DNS has to be extracted from teeth or bones.
In 2005, the lab prepared a population database that includes DNA profiles of 220 people. In future the lab has a plan to prepare a criminal database, which will help police in arresting convicted criminals.