Current status of DNA forensic in Pakistan
Introduction of forensic science
Forensic science is a combination of two different Latin words: forensis and science. The former, forensic, relates to a discussion or examination performed in public. The second is science, which is derived from the Latin word for ‘knowledge’ and is today closely tied to the scientific method, a systematic way of acquiring knowledge .Forensic science is any kind of science used in the lawful or justice system to support and sustain the law. Forensic science is critical to an effective justice system, which in turn is a pillar of a civil society and it also plays a critically important role in other areas such as the investigation of national and international incidents. Forensic scientists examine and investigate evidence from crime scenes and elsewhere to develop objective findings. The contribution of forensic science to crime analysis and investigation of crime is key pillar in justice system. The research in forensics is both basic and applied and a forensic scientist needs to have a strong fundamental background in the natural science .Forensic scientists can use DNA profiles to identify criminals or determine parentage. A DNA profile is like a genetic fingerprint. Every person has a unique DNA profile, making it very useful for identifying people involved in a crime. .Throughout the whole globe it has been considered that forensic science plat a vital role in criminal justice system all over the world. Forensic science most commonly is used to investigate criminal cases involving a victim, such as assault, robbery, kidnapping, rape or murder. .Forensic science occupies a contradictory position in the study of wrongful beliefs for both part of the solution and part of the problem. The collection of information through forensic case data could contribute more valuably to the provision of intelligence in justice system. All the world trying their best to achieve the proper result of forensic in any type of crime scene including murder, rape and many other illegal activities.
Now, in developed countries forensics is a very well established science and a number of standardized laboratories are functional. This includes both public sector laboratories from state to district level and research laboratories at the universities. The universities are offering professional degrees from bachelors to doctorate level; therefore, a strong link exists between the educational institutes, field staff, law makers and forensic laboratories. Forensic DNA analysis has been a part of many criminal investigations and is now considered as the gold standard in the field of forensic science. It has a tremendous capability and potential to solve cases not found in other forensic fields
History of forensic science in Pakistan.
The first forensic laboratory was build up before Partition. In 1906, the British government established the first forensic photographic department on Birdwood Road, Lahore. By 1947, this forensic lab was attentively serving as a British training center and also dealing with the examination of physical evidence like dust sample examination, weapon, cloth fibers, ink detection, counterfeit coin examination, forged currency, typed and handwritten material. After Partition the government set up three other forensic science laboratories in Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar. In 2001on the basis of requirement the government of Pakistan decided to advance the forensic science infrastructure to upgrade the existing one and establish more laboratories in the different regions of Pakistan. The National Forensic Science Agency (NFSA) was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2002, with an initial budget of PKR 1.29 billion for development of the forensic labs in Pakistan and also produce highly skilled technical staff and forensic experts (http://www.nfsa.gov.pk. ). Establishments at the NFSA developed a forensic lab which became functional in 2006. After the development of forensic laboratories in Pakistan the investigation rate of crime increase and NFSA investigates more than 200,000 cases in Pakistan with success rate of 96%. Some of the high-profile cases in which the NFSA’s services were sought are the Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad and suicide attack on a political rally at Karachi’s Karsaz area in 2007; former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and the Marriot Hotel bombing in 2008, a deadly fire that killed 258 people at a garments factory in Karachi’s Baldia Town in 2012, and the twin suicide blasts at Islamabad’s Sector F-8 district courts in 2014. .Much of our scientists trained from Australian experts in DNA, fingerprint, firearms, tool marks, and document analysis, and ballistics, explosives, and crime scene investigation and many from other developed countries. For labs instruments were also needed in forensic labs NFSA provide well quality equipment including includes genetic analyzers, centrifuge and PCR machines, a biosafety cabinet, an RT-PCR, vertical freezers and workstations for the DNA section. The agency has also acquired crime scene kits, first aid kits and digital cameras; brushes, applicators and polilight to detect fingerprints; Regula 1010 and 1019; VSC 6000/HS; ESDA 2; stereo microscope (Lica); and comparison microscope.
The Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA)
The Punjab Forensic Science Agency act was passed by the Punjab Assembly on 4 October 2007; approved to by the Governor of Punjab on 29 October 2007; and, was published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated 30 October 2007. Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif gathered a team of experts to run the agency and oversee development of a state-of-the-art forensic lab constructed over an area of 53 kanals. PFSA provide many facilities including Computer Forensic Unit, Crime & Death Scene, DNA & Serology, Forensic Photography, Firarm & Tool Marks, Narcotics, Latent Finger Prints, Pathology, Polygraph, Questioned Document, Toxicology and Trace Chemistry.
The performance of PFSA was very good in 2012, the PFSA now ranks as the second largest forensic agency of the world, says its director general. According to him, the agency has so far solved 248,000 cases which include incidents of terrorism, kidnapping for ransom, high value robberies, and murders. The progress of PFSA not limited only to Pakistan but also shared its expertise with foreign countries, says Dr. Tahir. It acted as a referee lab in the Ohio police shooting in the U.S. in 2015. “Chief Prosecutor Rick Bel had approached us seeking assistance with investigations,” he says. “PFSA’s findings on spent bullets and cartridges were admitted in the U.S. court as expert and conclusive ballistic analysis.
The PFSA now has 14 different fully equipped forensic laboratories. These include labs specializing in DNA, serology, crime and death scene investigations, fire arms/toolmarks, latent finger marks, forensic histology and pathology, postmortem toxicology, narcotics, chemistry trace, question documents, audio visuals, cybercrime investigations, and computer forensic.
Today, the PFSA has regional offices in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sargodha, and Dera Ghazi Khan. The agency staffers at the regional level have been trained to collect indirect evidence on their own without assistance from the central office.
Current capabilities of forensic DNA profiling in Pakistan
In Pakistan, the ongoing terrorist attacks, mass disaster victims, and increasing missing persons in natural disasters called for effective measures at the government level for the identification of the individuals. Crime scenes are often investigated poorly in developing countries like Pakistan because forensic science is rarely considered a part of the process. .Since 2006, efforts have been made at the government level for the development of forensic DNA analysis labs. Currently few forensic laboratories are available for DNA profiling in Pakistan such as National Forensic Science Agency, Punjab Forensic Science Agency and Centre for Applied Molecular Biology (CAMB) DNA Forensic Laboratory, but unfortunately these labs are still not well developed. Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), being the largest forensic DNA laboratory in Pakistan, has been helping in solving rape, murder, dead body identification, sibship, and parentage cases. Having started its operations since 2012, PFSA has received approximately 44,417 cases for DNA analysis out of which 36,954 cases have been solved successfully while approximately 7463 cases are pending for several reasons.[Mateen below ref]
One of the milestone cases solved in Pakistan is the famous Zainab’s murder case. The suspect had committed 12 cases of sexual assault and murders within a radius of 2.5 km. Extensive crime scene investigation led to the anxiety of the suspect, whose involvement in all the cases was confirmed with the help of DNA testing. A total of 1187 samples were collected for DNA analysis, whereas the 814th sample proved to be of the criminal. Despite eye-witness importance, Pakistani courts are now relying heavily on DNA-based evidences which are probabilistically measurable and also help in getting rid of false witness statements often encountered in the courts. Zainab’s murder case, solved through DNA analysis, has also led to public awareness regarding the importance of forensic DNA analysis in solving cases(http://www.technologyreview.pk/solving-zainabsmurder/).
In Sindh province, Sindh Forensic Science Agency act was passed on August, 2017 but so far no laboratory has been established. DNA testing facility available in Jamshoro, Sindh which provides research as well as forensic DNA testing. Besides this, government of Sindh is making efforts for establishment of Forensic DNA testing laboratory in Karachi University. There is similar situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces having no proper DNA forensic laboratories where DNA analysis with respect to crime scene can be done. NFSA and PFSA are providing many important investigation leads in various hideous crimes. The initiation of DNA data base recently at PFSA has proved a major revolution in solving crimes through DNA profile evaluation, not only acquitting the innocent, but also in catching the real criminal.
Gaps and flaws in DNA profiling in Pakistan
Satisfactory pool of qualified forensic scientists is critical to achieving the goal of using any physical evidence as a tedious law implementation tool. In Pakistan, there is no particular legal framework that specifically deals with DNA evidence, and hence the courts have to maneuver while remaining within the legal framework hitherto available. There are so many gaps and flaws in DNA profiling in Pakistan. These are lack of experts in this field, lack of funds and chain of custody, insufficient training and apparatus, lack of awareness, no communication between forensic DNA analysts with forensic DNA researchers. Pakistani DNA analysts are not updated with the current DNA research work in forensics. They need special training in this field and they need to keep communication and collaboration with different forensic research institutes within country and out of country. Crime scenes are often investigated unwell in developing countries like Pakistan because forensic science is infrequently considered a part of the process. One reason of substandard crime scene processing in Pakistan is lack of many crime-solving technologies which have already been utilized in developed nations.
As population of Punjab province of Pakistan is more 110 million, a single forensic laboratory at provincial level cannot accomplish the obligation of this province. There is a awful need to establish and reinforce the infrastructure of the forensic laboratories in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Bolochistan province of Pakistan. It is also noteworthy to mention that that capacity building, continuous learning and proper trainings of the personnel working in these laboratories is necessary to counter the increasing amount of criminal cases in Pakistan for smooth functioning of judiciary system.*
There is a crucial need to establish forensic labs in other provinces of Pakistan to solve cases on merit. The modern world justice system is not only relying on the ocular or oral witness testimony and also shifting to scientific evidence testimony for smooth and liable functioning of judiciary system but it is unfortunate that we are also depending on the traditional system of investigation. A huge amount of cases are pending in our police department and the police personnel are unfamiliar to Personal Protective Equipment and not trained to secure the crime scene and to collect the physical evidence without contamination. Apart from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have not well developed and satisfactory forensic investigation facilities and responsible chain of custody. The liquor case against Pakistan People’s Party leader Sharjeel Memon is the paradigm of the investigation team’s dishonesty.
Recently, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar visited different sections of PFSA and commended its performance. He has also lifted ban on forensic science agency jobs and to increase the allowances of scientists and staff which is an admirable step of Punjab government. No one can ignore the importance and standard of forensic science and the government will have to take a step to omit the demon of crime, brutality, barbarism and terrorism.
In conclusion we can say that a strong educational background in the natural sciences, personal characteristics such as honesty, integrity and honesty, and additional professional abilities are essential to train a candidate for a career in forensic science. It is requested to the government to encourage academia if they take step by launching any programme associated to forensics and announce special packages as reward of research in this field. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) must adopt policy to focus on this need. They have autonomy to announce the special scholarships focusing higher studies in forensics both indigenous and foreign. This would be a good option to encourage the students and well as faculty to choose it as their research area. The higher education policy makers in Pakistan must also make some policy to facilitate the field of forensics in collaboration with the law enforcement organizations.
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Pakistani citizens have stronger desires for DNA profiling and the government of Pakistan is trying to develop a national DNA database of all its citizens. Therefore it is necessary to develop the efficient and well-functioning Forensic DNA laboratories in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, Balochistan, FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan to overcome crimes and terrorism.
National Forensic Science Agency n.d. http://www.nfsa.gov.pk. Accessed on 5 June 2018
Mateen, R. M., & Tariq, A. (2019). Crime scene investigation in Pakistan: a perspective.
Solving Zainab’s Murder Case. http://www.technologyreview.pk/solving-zainabsmurder/. Accessed on 20 July 2019
Mateen, R. M., Tariq, A., & Rasool, N. (2018). Forensic science in Pakistan; present and future. Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 8(1), 45.