CHANDIGARH: Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi today said there was no forensic analysis in 13,000 rape cases every year as the country’s laboratories lacked the capacity.
“We have found that the weakest part of crime detection is forensic,” she said while announcing a plan to strengthen the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) here.
Her Ministry and the Home Ministry are starting with the CFSL in Chandigarh on improvement of labs across the country, she said. Money from the Nirbhaya Fund, named after a Delhi rape victim, has been granted for increasing its capacity.
“I was shocked to learn that the premier forensic laboratory carries out analysis of less than 160 cases a year,” she said.
“Forensic labs in the whole country do not conduct analysis of 13,000 out of 16,000 rape cases each year. They conduct analysis of just 3,000 cases,” she said.
The capacity of CFSL Chandigarh will be raised from 165 to 2,000 cases in a year, the Minister said.
The Minister said five more forensic labs would come up in Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Bhopal and Guwahati, raising the capacity of labs across the country to handle 50,000 rape cases a year. (AGENCIES)
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