Pak Court rules DNA tests compulsory in sexual abuse cases

The Peshawar High Court has ruled it was obligatory to conduct DNA tests on both the rape suspect and the alleged victim, in accordance with the enforcement of a law last year to check the incidents of sexual abuse.

Justice Roohul Amin Khan Chamkani ruled that under Section 164-B of the Pakistan Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), samples of the DNA of both the rape suspect and the alleged victim should be collected and sent for examination at the earliest, the Dawn reported.

A single-member bench further observed, "It further provides that the DNA samples collected shall be sent at earliest for the purpose of investigation to a Forensic Laboratory, where the same shall be properly examined and preserved."

The judgement passed by the bench also observed that the offence of sexual intercourse between people not married to each other is non-cognisable and that a complaint has to be lodged in the concerned court in connection with the offence.