How Will Forensic Experts Establish Sheena Bora’s Identity?

JJ Hospital has handed over a skull, bones and tissues of a charred body found in 2012 in Raigad to Mumbai police

The details of what exactly happened to Sheena Bora remain murky but a big chunk of the sensational murder case seems to have come together.

Way back in 2012, the Raigad Police stumbled on a charred body; while they buried most parts of it, the skull, remains of other bones, tissue and teeth samples were sent to Mumbai’s JJ Hospital for identification. JJ Hospital had preserved these remains and handed them over to the Mumbai police today, August 28th.

In a confirmation to The Quint, JJ Hospital’s dean, Dr Tatyarao Lahane confirms:

Today we handed over samples of bones, teeth that we received from Pen police on May 25, 2012. JJ Hospital had sent its report on these samples in December 2012.
–Dr TP Lahane, JJ Hospital Dr Lahane

How Will Forensic Experts Establish Identity?

Given the sequence of events, at this point it is only presumptive that the body belonged to Sheena Bora. The Quint spoke to a few top forensic experts of Mumbai to decode how the identity will be established:

1) Motherhood, fatherhood and sibling-hood of the dead person can be established by these remains. So now, the police will have to collect DNA samples of the biological mother, father and siblings to connect the dots. Since the body was charred, it will be difficult for forensic experts to establish DNA.

2) The good news is that the entire skull is in police custody. So now, the police will have to find out if Sheena ever went to a dentist. Each person has unique dental patterns, those records will help forensic experts to match them with Sheena’s and establish the identity.

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3) A complete forensic facial reconstruction will have to be done using the advanced method of digital superimposition photography (only available in KEM hospital in Mumbai). In this process, a human’s face whose identity is not known is recreated from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, forensic science, anthropology and anatomy.

A total of 16 such points need to be matched for a person’s identity to be proved. Forensics is not very advanced in India, and since the body was charred three years back, the whole process of extracting DNA will be extremely difficult for experts.

DNA is best collected from blood, saliva or hair samples.

Can Pregnancy Be Proved?

The Quint had earlier learnt that Sheena Bora was pregnant at the time of death. In a dead person, pregnancy can be proved only by examining the tissues of uterus, fallopian tube, cervix or even the remains of the fetus. Since the body was exhumed, no such samples are available.

Currently the remains are in possession of the Mumbai police. Even though the accused are spilling the beans on the modus operandi, they usually turn hostile in court. Tough days ahead for the Mumbai police and the forensic experts who will play a critical role in one of the most sensational murder cases in the digital age.