Deception and Vaginal Slides: Do we need to Preserve a Control Sample of Victims in Every Case of Rape?

Two women were found dead on the bank of a river in India. It was determined that the women had been raped and on postmortem examination, the cause of death was determined to be head injury. The mechanisms of the deaths led to probability that the women were murdered. The doctors, who conducted the examinations, submitted vaginal slides of the deceased for forensic examination. DNA analysis was conducted; male and female fractions of DNA were isolated. The viscera of the deceased were also preserved for toxicological analysis at the time of post mortem examination and part of which were subjected to DNA analysis. The female DNA profiles obtained from the vaginal slides and viscera did not match. Blood samples of four suspects were also collected, subjected to DNA analysis, and the profiles did not match with the male DNA profiles from the vaginal slides. This resulted in questionable samples, and therefore the exhumation of the bodies was recommended and undertaken. DNA profiles were generated from the long bones, teeth, and viscera of the exhumed bodies, which matched only with the DNA profiles generated from the viscera, not with the vaginal slides. From a forensic investigation, it was determined that the vaginal slides were fudged by one of the autopsy doctors. There was intentional deception. Implications of this case are made for future investigations of rape victims.