Trial for the murder of Rupert Berney Appasamy |24 May 2022

Court listens to Mauritian forensic expert’s virtual testimony

An expert from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) based in Reduit, Mauritius was the first witness before the court yesterday to give evidence in the ongoing trial for the murder of Rupert Berney Appasamy, whose decomposed body was found shallowly buried at Bougainville, Takamaka on September 23, 2021.

He was referring to the exhibits – 48 in total – which was sent to Mauritius for analysis, precisely swab tests for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis, upon the request of the Scientific Support and Crime Record Bureau (SSCRB) within the Seychelles Police Force.

The witness, a senior forensic pathologist, confirmed that all the evidences were well packed and seal upon arriving at the laboratory, accompanied by all the required documents.

He explained that from the date of submission, during the examination and on the day of collection, there was no interference whatsoever with the exhibits which were being processed and kept in the DNA and Biology section of the FSL.

Among the various analysis performed was the DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) which is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics, a forensic technique in criminal investigations, comparing criminal suspects' profiles to DNA evidence so as to assess the likelihood of their involvement in the crime.

The other witness before the court yesterday was a pathologist, who stood in for his colleague who performed the post mortem on Appasamy.

The two accused in the case which is being presided over by Justice Mohan Niranjit Burhan are Sindu Parekh and Ken Jean-Charles who are being represented by lawyers Tony Juliette and Olivier Chang-Leng respectively, while Corrine Rose and Georges Thachet are the prosecution lawyers.

The two accused share three counts between them, precisely murder, counselling or procuring another to commit the offence of murder, and also conspiring with another to commit the offence of murder.

Roland Duval