Features

Providing DNA samples

THE RELATIVES OFa 14-year-old girl who allege she was sexually molested by her father have expressed disappointment with the outcome of the case.

They felt the father should have been severely punished for what he was accused of doing but the jury found the man not guilty of the charge.

The girl became pregnant and had a child which the relatives are alleging is for the girl's father but they had no evidence to prove that.

Investigations revealed that the girl gave a particular date on which her father had sexual intercourse with her but the calculations showed that if she got pregnant for him on that occasion then he could not be the father of the baby.

Determine paternity

"The date the girl gave did not coincide with the birth of the baby because the girl's baby was born some eleven months after the time she claimed her father committed the offence," a policeman explained. The policeman said that must have been what had operated on the minds of the jurors when they deliberated.

"I can't understand why a DNA test was not done to determine the paternity of the child," one of the relatives said. The relative said " such a test would clear the issue and would have left everyone feeling satisfied".

"It is really not fair to the girl and the baby that the test was not done," the relative added.

The girl's father was charged with incest. A person who is charged with a criminal offence cannot be compelled to provide samples for DNA analysis.

However, if the girl and her mother decide to take the father to the Family Court for maintenance, then the judge there can order the father to provide samples for DNA analysis for the court to ascertain whether he is the father of the child.