Unavailability of kits delays DNA sampling of family members

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 23

Even though the government has asked the family members of 39 persons missing in Iraq since 2014 to give their blood samples for DNA test, the non-availability of sample-collection kits with Government Medical College (GMC) here has delayed the process. At least, nine persons were from various villages in the district.

Officials at the GMC here stated that they had received the orders of the Ministry of External Affairs through the Deputy Commissioner on Friday. However, till today, the officials were non-committal about when the kits would be available.

A senior official of the college said, “We do not know who would make these kits available? We have sent a request to all possible channels, including the district administration and the Civil Surgeon’s office.” He said a few persons who had claimed that their kin were missing in Iraq had visited the hospital in the past two days to give their samples, but these could not be taken due to non-availability of kits. None of the family members of the missing persons visited the hospital today, as they were told that they would be informed when the kits arrived.

The Medical Superintendent of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, associated with the college, Dr Ram Sarup Sharma, said, “Requests for DNA tests are received rarely. They are required only in cases of claims of parentage over a child or in rape cases. In both the cases, the tests are performed on the instructions of courts.”

The head of the Forensic Department at the college, Dr Ashok Kumar, said, “The samples have to be sent to Hyderabad by air for testing. We usually have a few kits at a time. As these are not enough, senior officials have been informed about this.” He said the samples would be taken as soon as the kits arrive.

The missing persons in Iraq are believed to have been taken hostage by the ISIS when it overran Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul. As the family members of the missing persons have been asking the government for help for past three years, the External Affairs Ministry on various occasions had claimed that they were alive.

With the government now asking them to give samples for DNA test, the hopes of these families have been shattered. Sarwan Singh, the brother of a missing person, said, “The government has so far been holding out assurances to us. Even now, we have not been informed what exactly is going on. We visited the hospital, as we were asked by officials to do so.” He said the families of the missing persons were growing desperate.