Highlights unresolved Pimla murder case, cites decades-long systemic neglect
Dimapur, May 2 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RPP) has called upon the Chief Minister of Nagaland to urgently establish an independent Directorate of Forensic Sciences in the state, citing the unresolved Pimla murder case as a stark example of systemic failure and the dire state of the current forensic infrastructure.
In a memorandum dated May 2, the RPP said the killing of a woman in Pimla village and the subsequent delay in forensic analysis highlights the consequences of inadequate facilities, staffing shortages, and dependency on overburdened external laboratories. It warned that such delays risk compromising evidence and denying justice to victims and families.
Nagaland’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), originally established in 1982 and shifted to Kachari Goan, Dimapur in 2018, remains "critically understaffed and ill-equipped," the party noted. Despite a 2017 government order creating nine posts for scientific personnel, the RPP stated that no recruitment has taken place and that the laboratory continues to rely on police personnel often untrained in forensic methodologies.
“This not only undermines the credibility of investigations but also violates the spirit of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2024, which mandates forensic evidence in crimes punishable with seven or more years of imprisonment,” the memorandum stated.
The party pointed out that the FSL currently functions under the Police Department, raising concerns about its impartiality and scientific independence. It said forensic science must be administered by qualified experts and not police officers or individuals trained through short-term or diploma courses.
The RPP highlighted the 2022 directive from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs urging all states to modernize forensic laboratories and lamented that Nagaland has failed to keep pace with national developments. It added that a number of NET, FACT, and PhD-qualified forensic professionals from the state remain unemployed while the system remains dependent on non-experts.
To address these concerns, the RPP submitted three key demands: Creation of an autonomous Directorate of Forensic Science Lab and Research, staffed with NPSC-recruited scientific experts; immediate recruitment of forensic scientists through the NPSC; and expansion of the FSL’s capabilities to include DNA analysis, toxicology, and digital forensics, with support from the Ministry of Home Affairs for modernization.
"The Pimla case is not an isolated incident but a symptom of systemic neglect spanning four decades," said RPP President Joel Naga in the appeal. “Every delayed report, every outsourced analysis, and every compromised piece of evidence erodes public trust and denies justice to victims.”
