DHNS

Bangalore, Apr 12: The Prathibha Srikanthamurthy murder case has taken a new twist. The viscera samples of the victim and the blood samples of the accused Shivakumar sent for DNA tests have not confirmed that the victim was raped.

Sharing the results of the tests conducted at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics in Hyderabad with reporters on Tuesday, City Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh said: “The DNA samples do not confirm the presence of semen or sperm in the vagina of the victim. There were physical signs of harassment on the body, which hinted at a possibility of rape.”

Prathibha, a call centre employee, was found murdered on December 13 last year, following which cab driver Shivakumar was arrested on charges of rape and murder.

The post-mortem report had suggested the possibility of a rape, but there were no conclusive evidences. Hence, the police had to send the DNA samples to CDFD in Hyderabad, the only centre in South India conducting DNA tests. The City police had sent the samples in early March for further confirmation of physical evidence of rape. Mr Singh, however, pointed out that there was a gap of three days between the murder of Prathibha and the post-mortem. “There is a possibility of traces of semen and sperm disappearing during these three days. The DNA samples will be presented in the court. However, the report is not a conclusive evidence in itself. The charges framed against Shivakumar of rape and murder will remain,” he said.

Singh said the future course of action would be decided after consulting prosecution advocates, forensic experts and senior police officers.

Shivakumar, who is in judicial custody, had recently appealed to the Eighth Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Court stating that he had not raped Prathibha and had been hired on a contract to kill her.

When Singh’s attention was drawn to the statement of the accused, the police commissioner said: “He might have been advised by habitual criminals in the jail to change his version to avoid capital punishment.”

He further said the possibility of Prathibha being murdered during a molestation attempt could not be ruled out. He refused to comment on the claims made by the accused that he had been hired to murder the victim.

The case so far

• December 13  - Prathibha Srikanthamurthy found murdered

• December 16 - Her cab driver Shivakumar arrested

• December 17 - He confessess to rape and murder, in front of police

• February 2 - Chargesheet filed against accused

• March 9 - Samples sent to FSL, Hyderabad

• April 11 - DNA results made public. Trial by the magistrate court is yet to commence; date yet to be fixed