Forensic Science International: Reports 1 (2019) 100047

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Forensic Science International: Reports

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Recent trends in child rape crisis in Delhi (India): A forensic overview

Suminder Kaur a, * , Simarpreet Kaur b, Kajal Varshney c
a
DNA Fingerprinting Unit, Biology Division, Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Delhi, India
b
Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India
c
Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Sexual assaults and rapes are such violent crimes that not only leave the victims physically assaulted but also
POCSO act emotionally traumatized or even dead. In 2002, WHO (World Health Organization) estimated that 150 million girls
CSA (child sexual assault) and 73 million boys under the age of 18 years had experienced sexual assault which is one of the most common but
Medico legal examination
unreported crime. Children below the age of 18 suffer all forms of sexual activities that include vaginal-fingering,
DNA profiling
anal-fingering, vaginal and/or anal penetration, looking at sexual parts with psychiatric sense, voyeurism, or
pornography. In spite of all the laws, education and awareness, Child Sexual Assault (CSA) cases were recorded to
have been tremendously increasing especially in the metropolitan cities. Studies prove that the incidence is far
bigger than what is reported to authorities and the frequency of CSA cases is therefore difficult to determine as they
are often not reported. Sexual assault and rape victims seek out official provision amenities in the acute period that
may even be stretched to days, weeks, months or years following the sexual assault. This delayed disclosure may be
challenging for the purpose of eliciting the tell-tales from the evidence that could be the only way to establish the link
between the accused and the crime.
The objective of our study is to evaluate the overall crime rate of Delhi NCR in the year 2017–2018 and to study the
reasons associated with delayed reporting. Rising out of the analysis, the secondary objective of the study is to find
the possible effects of delayed medico legal examination on forensic DNA evidence. The emphasis is given on the
cases reported U/S 376 IPC (this section stipulates punishments that are awarded if a person is convicted to rape),
U/S 377 (this section describes punishment for whoever voluntarily commits unnatural intercourse with any human
being or animal) and POCSO Act (Child Sexual Assault). The victims in this study are in the age range of 2 months to
17 years; unmarried, predominantly adolescents, having very low social and educational status. Involvement of
Juvenile offenders in committing rape is quite high. In most of the cases the offenders are either neighbor and/or
known to the victim. The objective of our study is to evaluate the statistical percentage of child sexual abuse cases.

Introduction
Crime against children has been a cause of great distress of India’s
development efforts. Childhood is reflected as a developmental age with
high susceptibility to psychological and physical risks. Child sexual abuse
is when a child is involved in sexual activity that he/she cannot
understand because of being unaware of right and wrong [1]. Sexual
activities include all forms of genital, or anal contact, or child abuse like
exhibitionism, voyeurism, and pornography [2].
According to RAINN’s website (Rape, Abuse And Incest National
Network), one-third of abusers, mostly men, are juveniles that include
family friends, relatives, neighbors or babysitters [3]. Also, one in 9 girls
and 1 in 53 boys under the age of 18 have faced sexual abuse or assault by
an adult of which 82% are female victims [3]. In India, ‘Asian Center for
Human Rights’ reported 48,338 cases of the CSA between 2001 and 2011
[4]. In the recent Kathua rape case the victim was just 8 years old who was
tortured and raped inside a temple [5] and whereas, Manipur victim who
was raped and later burnt was 11 years old [6]. In India, a special
legislation, POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) was
approved in May 2012 by the Indian Parliament which describes all forms
of sexual abuse for both male and female of age group 0–18 years. This
legislation depicts the type of punishment of each sexual assault for the
culprit and also laid down certain guidelines for police officials and legal
authorities to deal with the sufferers [7]. Reporting of such offence cases
becomes a challenge due to either threat by the offender or due to the
thought that it would bring shame to the family. Also due to one more
important fact that the offender is a known, a family member, a relative, a
person trusted with care and safekeeping of the child or a neighbor [8].
Sexual assault and child abuse cases are identified as a major crime in
the capital city, Delhi. Thus there is a need to understand the factors

Abbreviations: CSA, Child Sexual Assault; MLC, Medico-Legal Cases; U/S, Under Section; IPC, Indian Penal Code; POCSO, Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences;
UPT, Urine Pregnancy Test.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ksuminder@gmail.com (S. Kaur), simarkhurana13@gmail.com (S. Kaur), akkajal21@gmail.com (K. Varshney).

http://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsir.2019.100047
Received 9 August 2019; Received in revised form 14 October 2019; Accepted 15 October 2019
Available online 18 October 2019
2665-9107/© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
S. Kaur et al.
associated with the occurrence of such cases. On an average eight women
get molested every day and most of them go without reporting it to the
police [New Delhi Television Limited 2019]. Hence, the prevalence of
molestation and DV still remains difficult to determine as the occurrence
of such abuses/assaults is higher than what is actually reported. This
study thus focuses on the nature and incidences of CSA and gives an
overview of the DNA examinations.
Before the introduction of DNA technology, the success of a
prosecution was mainly dependent upon the testimony of the victim
against the perpetrator. Since 1985, DNA has proved to be a great tool
in criminal investigation as well as paternity cases worldwide. DNA can
be extracted from different biological sources including blood, semen,
saliva, hair, skin, teeth, bone and fetal tissue. In cases in which sexual
assaults lead to pregnancy, it becomes vital to determine the paternity
which is attained by using fetal tissue from the aborted fetus as a DNA
source [9]. In cases of sexual assault, after reporting the offence the
victim is sent to a nearby Hospital for medical examination by a
gynecologist. This hesitation or taboo associated with the crime results
in the delay of the medico legal examination and sample collection, the
only way to establish the link between the accused and the offence.
Family members of the victim avoid disclosure and maintain the
confidentiality especially in cases that result in pregnancy [10]. Child
sexual assault victims and their families experience the long tardy
panorama of court proceedings that usually takes a time period of
several years. Additionally, the effecting of laws and initiatives in India
is a problem. Thus the families intend to abstain from reporting the
assault [11]. Lack of trust in judicial system and medical services are
among the major barriers in reporting and successfully suing
the offenders [12]. There have been few cases, and still are, in which
the police protect the offender and discourages the victim to report the
assault, resulting in low charge filing and conviction rate too. Doctors
also sometimes neglect to collect vital evidence when they deal with
medico-legal examinations resulting in alleged perpetrators being
released by the courts. Poor preservation of the evidence also accounts
for negative results or insufficient DNA incapable of generating a
profile [13].
Due to inadvertent delay in the reporting of the offence, the
essential evidences are destroyed especially in the case of anal and oral
penetration [13]. Many a times, child sexual assaults don’t involve
penetrated sex. In such cases, it becomes quite difficult to prove the
commitment of assault. While in cases that involve victim of very young
age it becomes a challenge to elicit the statements of the assault as well
as the associated evidence. Insufficient evidence collected also prove to
be drawback during DNA profiling [14]. Currently the punishment in
India for aggravated penetrative sexual assault is imprisonment
between 10 years to life and a fine. The bill has now increased the
minimum punishment from 10 years to 20 years and the maximum
punishment to death penalty [15].
Method and material
In this retrospective study for which approximately 2000 cases
reported at the Forensic Science Laboratory, Delhi (INDIA) from January
2017 to December 2018 were reviewed for overall crime rate. Further 100
cases reported under POCSO Act were randomly selected and reviewed
for percentage distribution of different sexual activities. The present
study also tries to find the reasons associated with the delay in reporting
and its effects on forensic DNA evidence in sexual assault cases. The age of
the male and female victims ranged from 5 months to 17 years.
The objective of our study is to evaluate the statistical percentage of
child sexual abuse cases. The variables such as Date of occurrence of
crime, Date of Medico Legal Examination, affected age group of victims,
and type of sexual activities in percentile. This paper also reveals about
the percentage of DNA results found to be positive in CSA cases after the
examination of exhibits. Specimen used in obtaining evidences in sexual
2
FSIR 1 (2019) 100047
assault cases are:
Vaginal/cervical swab/smear, Oral/Buccal Swab, Anal and rectal
swab/smear, Nail Scrapings and Clippings, Semen and seminal stains,
Penile swabs/smears, Blood, as a control specimen, Fetal tissue from
aborted fetus.
Result
Out of 2000 reviewed cases between January 2017 and December
2018, 34.52% cases of U/S 376/377 IPC (Vaginal, Oral and anal
penetration) were reported at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
[Fig. 1 showed the maximum cases reported were of U/S 376 IPC followed
by cases under the POCSO Act (CSA), U/S 377 IPC (Anal penetration),
Intoxication and assault, molestation and Domestic Violence (DV) others
[‘others’ include murder, attempt to murder, unidentified bodies,
paternity, theft and robbery and abduction cases]. The total child sexual
assault cases i.e. 59.22 which were due to Vaginal penetration, anal
penetration, molestation, DV, Intoxication and assault in the age range of
5 months to 17 years (registered under the POCSO Act) were further
considered for analysis.
To determine the prevalence of Child Sexual Assault cases, 100 cases
from January 2017 to December 2018 were randomly selected and
studied for the various factors [Table 1]. The factors include age of the
victim, gap between the occurrence of crime and medico-legal
examination and type of crime (Vaginal, Vaginal fingering, Anal, Oral,
Molestation and Sodomy) in each case.
According to Fig. 2 statistics, out of 100 reviewed POCSO cases
majority of cases fall under the age group 14years to 17years which is 51,
followed by age group 11years to 14years where the number is 23, 13
victims fall under the age group of 5years to 8years, 7 victims under the
age group 8years to 11years, 4 under the age group 2years to 5years and
surprisingly 2 below the age of 2 years out of which 1 girl child is aged 5
months old.
The present findings in Table 2 indicated that out of 18 cases reported
on same day, the DNA STR analysis was positive among 09 cases and 01
cases showed UPT+(pregnancy positive). Twenty cases [20] cases
reported on the next day for Medico legal Examination gave positive DNA
analysis in 16 cases and 04 DNA negative cases. Another 36 cases reported
within one week depicts 13 positive DNA cases and 02 UPT + cases. 15
cases reported between 8th day to 2 months revealed 01 DNA positive case
and 03 UPT + cases. The 11 cases reported after 2 months could not
reveal any DNA positive case whereas 10 UPT + cases were indicated.
Under CSA cases, vaginal penetration and anal penetration are the
most common form of sexual assault reported [Fig.3]. The vaginal
penetration with 76% occurrence topped the pie graph followed by anal
penetration (9%), vaginal fingering and oral penetration both show 6%
each and lastly molestation which showed 3% occurrence as it is least
reported crime.
Fig. 1. Percentage of crime cases received between January 2017 and December
2018. [Others include murder, attempt to murder, unidentified bodies, paternity,
theft and robbery and abduction cases].
S. Kaur et al. FSIR 1 (2019) 100047

Table 1
Age-wise distribution of CSA, Medico-legal analysis and prevalence of various forms of sexual abuse of 100 CSA cases.
S.NO. Age Gap between the date of Type of Crime Report
occurrence and date of (DNA Result)
Medico-legal certificate

1. 5 months 2 days Vaginal penetration +ve

2. 2y Next day Vaginal penetration +ve
3. 3y Same day Vaginal penetration ve
4. 31/2 y Next day Vaginal penetration ve
5. 4y 1 Day Anal penetration ve
6. 4y Same day Vaginal fingering +ve
7. 5y Same day Vaginal penetration +ve
8. 51/2 y Next day Oral +ve
9. 6y Same day Vaginal and anal +ve
10. 6y Next day Molestation ve
11. 6y Next day Vaginal +ve
12. 7y Same day Vaginal penetration and fingering +ve
13. 7y Same day Vaginal and fingering ve
14. 8y Same day Vaginal +ve
15. 8y 1 day Vaginal +ve
16. 8y Same day Anal +ve
17. 8y Same day Vaginal fingering ve
18. 8y Same day Molestation ve
18. 8y Next day Anal and Oral +ve
20. 8y Same day Oral, vaginal ve
21. 9y Same day Oral ve
22. 9y Next day Vaginal and fingering +ve
23. 10 y 3 days Vaginal Fingering ve
24. 10 y Next day Vaginal +ve
25. 10 y Next day Anal penetration +ve
26. 10 y Next day Anal penetration +ve
27. 11 y Same day Vaginal penetration +ve
28. 12 y 4 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
29. 12 y 3 days Vaginal penetration +ve
30. 12 y 2 days Vaginal penetration ve
31. 13 y 4 days Anal penetration +ve
32. 13 y 20 days Vaginal penetration ve
33. 13 y 11 days Vaginal penetration ve
34. 13 y 5 days Oral ve
35. 13 y 2 days Vaginal penetration +ve
36. 14 y 4 days Vaginal penetration ve
37. 14 y 1 month Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
38. 14 y 5 days Vaginal penetration ve
39. 14 y 2 days Vaginal penetration +ve
40. 14 y 6 Days Vaginal penetration ve
41. 14 y Next day Vaginal penetration +ve
42. 14 y 10 days Vaginal penetration ve
43. 14 y 10 days Vaginal penetration +ve
44. 14 y 6 days Vaginal penetration +ve
45. 14 y 4 days Vaginal penetration ve
46. 14 y 1 day Vaginal penetration ve
47. 14 y 3 months Vaginal penetration ve
48. 14 y 20 days Vaginal penetration ve
49. 14 y Next day Anal penetration +ve
50. 15 y 1 week Vaginal penetration +ve
51. 15 y 4 days Vaginal penetration ve
52. 15 y 1 month Vaginal penetration ve
53. 15 y 1 month Vaginal penetration ve
54. 15 y 3 days Vaginal penetration +ve
55. 15 y 2 days Vaginal penetration ve
56. 15 y 2 days Vaginal penetration ve
57. 15 y 3 days Physical Molestation ve
58. 15 y 2 days Vaginal penetration ve
59. 15 y 1 day Vaginal penetration ve
60. 15 y Next day Vaginal (Intox.) +ve
61. 16 y 8 days Vaginal penetration ve
62. 16 y 1 day Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
63. 16 y Same day Oral and anal +ve
64. 16 y 3 days Vaginal penetration ve
65. 16 y 2 days Vaginal penetration +ve
66. 16 y Next day Vaginal penetration ve
67. 16 y 1 month Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
68. 16 y 3 days Vaginal penetration +ve
69. 16 y Next day Vaginal penetration +ve
70. 16 y Same day Vaginal penetration ve
71. 16 y 4 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
72. 16 y 3 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve

(continued on next page)

3
S. Kaur et al. FSIR 1 (2019) 100047

Table 1 (continued)
S.NO. Age Gap between the date of Type of Crime Report
occurrence and date of (DNA Result)
Medico-legal certificate

73. 16 y Same day Intoxication and Vaginal penetration +ve

74. 16 y 3 days Vaginal penetration +ve
75. 16 y 1 month Vaginal penetration ve
76. 16 Y 1 month Vaginal penetration ve
77. 16 y 5 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
78. 16 y 2 days Vaginal penetration ve
79. 16 y 5 days Intoxication and Vaginal +ve
80. 16 y 4 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
81. 16 y 4 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
82. 16 y 1 week Vaginal penetration ve
83. 161/2 y Next day Intoxication and vaginal +ve
84. 17 y Same day Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
85. 17 y Next day Vaginal penetration +ve
86. 17 y Same day Vaginal penetration ve
87. 17 y 2 days Vaginal penetration ve
88. 17 y 12 days Vaginal penetration ve
89. 17 y 1 month Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
90. 17 y 2 days Vaginal penetration VE
91. 17 y 3.5 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
92. 17 y 3 days Vaginal Fingering and penetration ve
93. 17 y Next day Pornography and Vaginal +ve
94. 17 y Next day vaginal penetration ve
95. 17 y 3 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
96. 17 y 5 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
97. 17 y 9 Days Vaginal penetration ve
98. 17 y Next day Anal and vaginal +ve
99. 17 y 5 days Vaginal penetration UPT + ve
100. 17 y 6 months Vaginal penetration UPT + ve

Discussion

In India’s capital city, Delhi there is approximately five fold increase in

sexual assault cases in last 10 years [16]. This study clearly indicated that
majority of the sexual assault cases were registered under POCSO Act that
certainly means that the children under the age- 18 years are the most
vulnerable and at higher risk of being victim in the society due to their
mental immaturity and lack of ability to defend themselves. The majority of
negative DNA results were mainly found as a result of delayed disclosure.
Upon detailed present study, 36 case reported from 3rd to 7th day (Table 2)
after the incidence were mainly due to the hesitation and lack of faith in law
and order process hindering women from filing complaints at work or with
the police [12]. This faith organized with social standards supporting male
superiority and sexual power, weedy laws and dogmas related to sexual
violence and gender fairness are societal influences that propagate sexual Fig. 2. Age wise distribution of the CSA victims from January 2017 to December
violence within the community [1]. The number of child sexual assault 2019. (In numbers).
cases has been tremendously increasing at an alarming rate, merely
implementing Preventive laws and legislation will not be sufficient. A DNA cases of same day are due to molestation, consuming water/food in
Yemeni man in 2017 convicted of raping and murdering a four-year-old girl oral penetration cases and use of condoms in vaginal penetration as
has been executed in front of thousands of people. His body was then observed in the present study. However, the negative DNA cases of MLC
hanged from the top of a crane for the crowd to see [17]. According to them, performed on next day has two victims with foul smelling vaginal
this will ultimately reduce the occurrence of such crimes and make their
country a safer place to reside in.
Children are highly vulnerable to sexual offenses committed by both Table 2
adults and juveniles. In the present study, the age group of 14–17 years are Effect of delayed medico-legal examination on the DNA Results among 100 CSA
highly prone to sexual offense (51%). In this age group, mutual consent is cases.
highest because of the teenage attraction towards each other whereas the Medico Legal Reported UPT DNA DNA
age group of 11–14 years includes 50% mutual consent (majorly in the age Examination cases +ve +ve ve
Gap after incidence (Inclusive) (Exclusive)
of 13 and 14 years) and 50% forced sexual abuse (majorly in the age of 11
and 12 years). Below the age of 11 years, children are sexually abused Same day 18 1 9 8
Next day 20 0 16 4
against their will. Victims under the age group 5–8 years being more
Within 1 36 2 13 21
vulnerable experience forcible sexual abuse as they can be easily bribed week
by the perpetrators known to the child and or by the neighbors [Fig. 2]. 8th day to 2 15 3 1 11
The present study showed if the medico-legal examination is months
>2 11 10 0 1
performed on the same day or next day there are greater chances of
months
getting the offender’s DNA profile from the victim’s swabs. The negative

4
S. Kaur et al.
Fig. 3. Pie chart illustrating different types of sexual activities among female child
victims in percentage (%).
discharge indicating vaginal infections. It was observed that even after
performing MLC from 3rd to 7th day, 36% of the CSA cases still provided
positive DNA results thereby indicating that the male DNA among CSA
victims persists even after 72 h. (Table 2)
In present study, there are few cases where the child victim is
intoxicated before the act. Instances of oral and anal act were also
observed among few CSA cases. After DNA analysis, 43.63% of the
hundred reviewed cases gave the positive result for DNA analysis and
18.18% sexual assault cases lead to a positive UPT test. DNA examination
for paternity test from fetus with offender was also proved positive. The
negative results (38.18%) in cases (U/S 376/377 IPC and POCSO Act)
were mainly due to the washing of genitalia/clothing or menstruation
following the date of occurrence. A number of victims reported a history
of vaginal infections due to which no male profile could be generated as
no potential evidence was found during the examination. In cases
reported U/S 377 IPC, delayed disclosure and expunge of the potential
evidences in the oral and anal pathways lead to negative results.
Vulnerable victims should be educated on the prompt reporting sexual
violence, and parents and guardians should also spread awareness related
to signs and signals of sexual abuse. In CSA cases, may be the only way to
prove the occurrence of sexual assault is the Biological evidence,
particularly DNA as the victim is too young to address other witness in
order to identify of perpetrator. In the present study, besides the age factor
the other barriers observed were poor access to the police, fear of
perpetrator, threats and poor treatment by personnel leading to the
victims turning hostile [18]. Medical experts need to be trained enough to
carry out the examination in the best possible way as well as aim at
improving the way in which the medico legal reports are drawn up
because partial or incomplete information will directly affect the results.
Trained medical staff with psychological support, facilitating the legal
system and an examination without delay with proper collection of
evidence, would certainly elevate the positive results with much more
efficiency.
Conclusion
The sexual violence leaves a multiplied effect especially when it leads to
pregnancy or when the violence is passed from one generation to the other.
Only few victims actually report the offence and seek medical and legal
support making it difficult to determine the prevalence of Child Sexual
Assaults. It requires an empowered victim, a supporting reporting
environment, and a responsive legal system to report such offences
[20]. Age was found to be an influential factor associated with disclosure of
offence. Further investigation is required in cases where children of minor
age are involved as those with developmental complications who are
sexually assaulted may experience continuing problems due to lack of
coping resources and increased chances of revictimisation, thus facing
further barriers to disclosure [21,22]. Accidental disclosure was found
5
FSIR 1 (2019) 100047
more common in victims aged below 10 years rather than purposeful
disclosure. As observed in the present study, In the age group14-17 years
(n = 51), it was found that in 48 cases, the girl had consensual sexual
intercourse and in few cases even eloped with him. Since the relationship is
not approved by her parents or guardians, they file the case at the Police
Station. In few other instances, the boyfriend performs sexual intercourse
with the girl by giving false assurance of marrying her but later refuse to
marry which force the girl to lodged complaint against him, in such cases
semen identification and pregnancy have been proved to be diagnostic for
sexual contact [19]. There have been few reported cases where women
misused the laws for her personal gains [16]. All these allegations questions
the authenticity of above said cases as they unnecessarily burdens the legal
system and also leads to defamation of innocent man. In number of other
cases, due to long interval between the act and Medico legal Examination,
the vital trace evidence of sexual intercourse gets lost. So, medical
examination and reporting of sexual assault cases are important without
delaying. All concerned for this purpose should be properly trained for
prompt reporting starting from the victim to the legal authority.
Declaration of Competing Interest
None.
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Ms. Deepa Verma, Director, Forensic
Science Laboratory, Delhi, India, K.C. Varshney, Incharge, Regional
Forensic Science Laboratory, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi and Ms. Komal,
Laboratory Attendant for their valuable support during the entire study.
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