Principal Charged with Rape and Murder of Six-Year-Old Girl in Dahod | Vadodara News – Times of India

Vadodara: Dahod police on Thursday filed a 1,700-page chargesheet against the primary school principal who allegedly raped and murdered a six-year-old girl studying in his school in Torni village of the district.
The chargesheet has been filed within 12 days of arresting the accused, Govind Nat (50), on Sept 22. Investigations into the girl’s death on Sept 19 led the Dahod police to the accused.Nat spent seven days in police custody for investigation, and he was sent to judicial custody on Monday.
The chargesheet filed in the Limkheda court includes statements from about 150 witnesses. A team of some 300 policemen, including two deputy superintendents of police, four inspectors, and two sub-inspectors, were involved in the probe, which was supervised by district superintendent of police Dr Rajdeepsinh Zala.
Sections pertaining to rape under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita were included in the offence against the principal. These include section 64(2) for rape, section 65(2) for the rape of a woman under 12 years of age, section 66 for rape with murder, and others. Both sections 65(2) and 66 have a punishment of at least 20 years in jail and can invite the death penalty too. Zala said the sections were included based on the detailed postmortem report.
Nat had allegedly given a lift to the girl in his car on the morning of 19th September. He allegedly assaulted her sexually and then smothered her to death. He kept the body in the car and parked it on the school premises. When everyone left the school at 5 pm, he took out the girl’s body and dumped it behind the school building. Nat left the girl’s bag and shoes outside her classroom.
Epithelial cells give clinching evidence
Apart from the regular DNA analysis, which is conducted on bodily fluids found from the persons involved and the scene of the crime, the case employed forensic biological analysis. In this method, epithelial cells were collected from the private parts of the deceased and the accused. “These were matched, boosting the DNA analysis by proving that there indeed was bodily contact,” said a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) officer. DSP Zala said that if two people come in contact in a violent manner, these cells are left on each other’s body or skin. A similar contact was established in this case.
Psychological analysis of crime scene
The psychological forensic analysis of the crime scene involved the police taking the same route as the principal at the same time when the crime was perpetrated. The police travelled on the route with a dashboard camera, did a reconstruction of the crime with the accused, and used drone footage for the purpose. These, along with the statements of the witnesses and psychological profiling of the accused, were used to ascertain if he was at a particular spot at a particular time.
Principal’s movements tracked
Details of the principal’s movements were gathered using his cellular phone data. The police identified how he had taken a longer time to reach the school than on usual days. The location of his phone at various times had also come in handy. Also, the car was thoroughly and systematically cleaned to erase all evidence. “However, experts found incriminating evidence, connecting both the victim and the accused to the vehicle,” said the official.