Forensic medical examinations can help nail down offenders: Police
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DSP Mohammad Amin Majid (right) and ASP Yap Kai Jia from the Serious Sexual Crime Branch, were speaking to media on the importance of forensic medical examinations during investigations to help identify offenders.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
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SINGAPORE - Forensic medical examinations were crucial in helping Singapore police solve two separate rape cases, with DNA matches making the offenders confess to their crimes.
In one case, a 23-year-old university student was in 2019 beaten, dragged into a forested area in Kranji and raped.
The rapist then drank from the victim’s water bottle and poured the remaining water over her lower body, before making his escape.
But a timely forensic medical examination found male DNA on her, which later matched that of the offender, Indian national Chinnaiah Karthik
In 2023, Chinnaiah was sentenced to 16 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammad Amin Majid, who is from the Serious Sexual Crime Branch (SSCB) of the Criminal Investigation Department, said: “It really helped with our investigations, it was the final nail in the coffin.”
The police had rounded up several suspects from nearby dormitories and housing estates, using closed-circuit television footage.
DNA testing was then conducted on all the suspects, including the offender.
DSP Amin described Chinnaiah as being dishonest and uncooperative during the initial course of investigations.
“That is why the forensic medical examination was so crucial in this case,” said DSP Amin, who was the investigating officer on the case.
He added: “When we found out he was a match after many suspects, we knew it was him.”
DSP Amin was speaking to the media on Feb 8 on the importance of forensic medical examinations during investigations to help identify offenders.
This came after the Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill
These consist of physical examinations and the collection of samples from any body part, as well as taking photographs, casts and impressions of body parts, which may include intimate parts.
With the passing of the Bill, the authorities can use reasonable force on accused persons for examinations that do not involve intimate parts or invasive procedures, such as swabbing the mouth or taking hair samples.
In an interview with the media on Jan 22, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said those who are required to take part in forensic examinations involving intimate parts or invasive procedures and refuse to cooperate may be charged with an offence.
An accused person who is required to take part in forensic medical examinations but refuses without reasonable excuse can be jailed for up to seven years, fined or both.
DSP Amin said that evidence can also be collected from clothes or blood samples.
Consent will generally be required for forensic examinations on victims – with some exceptions.
Mr Shanmugam said the authorities can proceed with the examinations without the victim’s consent if the delay will result in the loss of evidence, and if the victim has a physical or mental condition that means he or she cannot give consent within a reasonable time.
In the other case where forensic medical examinations mattered, Malaysian carpenter Lee Ah Choy was caught 12 years after raping a schoolgirl in 2002, and in 2016
Lee was working in Singapore in 2002 and had seen the girl a few times while he was on his morning jog.
On Oct 18, 2002, he made his move on the 12-year-old while she was on her way to school, pulling her to a nearby block of flats and raping her.
The girl reported the incident and forensic medical examinations were conducted on her at the time, but Lee’s identity was never established.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Yap Kai Jia, a deputy officer-in-charge at SSCB, said: “There were no CCTV cameras and no eyewitnesses. Essentially, there were no leads because the accused person is a stranger.”
Lee was arrested for theft in 2014, and his blood sample taken during investigations and sent to the police database.
The DNA profile matched that of the rapist, leading the case to be reopened.
ASP Yap said: “We interviewed him, and he denied everything until he was confronted with the DNA evidence.”
She added: “That was probably when he realised that we had evidence, even though we didn’t have CCTV footage or eyewitnesses.”
ASP Yap said examples like this show why forensic medical examinations are an important tool for the police.
She added that even the judge in the case had remarked that Lee would have been hard-pressed to refute the allegations when presented with the DNA evidence.
