Evaluating the persistence of laundered semen stains on fabric using a forensic light source system, prostate-specific antigen Semiquant test and DNA recovery-profiling

Abstract

Semen stains on the clothes of victims of sexual assault can remain as evidence even after garments have been laundered. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of commonly preferred methods to detect semen stains in two different fabric types that were laundered with different washing machine programmes and washing powders, and to obtain a DNA profile from the semen stains. For this purpose, a comprehensive study was performed on semen-stained underwear using three different methods for stain detection, confirmation and identification: a forensic light source (FLS) system, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and DNA recovery profiling. With FLS applications, stronger fluorescence was achieved in wash protocols performed at a low temperature (30°C) on semen-stained cotton underwear. DNA recovery between 13.45 and 55.00 ng/µl was obtained by modifications in the DNA extraction step when the effect of temperature and washing powder on DNA recovery was evaluated, and these were enough for short tandem repeat (STR) typing in all samples. This study shows that when semen-stained underwear is washed after a month, some semen stains can be determined by FLS and PSA, and all stains can be identified by STR analyses.

Evaluation of the relationship between the detectability of seminal stains on laundered fabric and stain age

“…Karadayı et al. 17 and Morris et al. 25 achieved better DNA recovery from semen-stained clothes that they kept for one month and eight months, respectively, than did Farmen et al., 26 who stored the clothes for only one day.…”

“…In two different studies previously conducted by Karadayı et al. 17 and Morris et al., 25 the effects of biological and non-biological detergents on seminal stained fabrics were investigated. These two studies showed that non-biological detergents are relatively less effective at removing semen stains on cotton fabrics than biological detergents are.…”

“…This includes but is not limited to things such as the psychological distress caused to the victim or feelings of guilt. 15–17 Frequently, women and child victims living in underdeveloped countries do not report such crimes to the judicial authorities due to being afraid of social pressure, or they may do so a long time after the event. 18,19 Even if a certain time has passed since the sexual assault, in some cases, seminal stains on clothes can still be an important type of evidence.…”

“…According to the limited number of studies conducted to date, more effective use of FLSs in detecting the location of such stains depends on multiple factors, such as laundering temperature and the colour and type of fabric. 4,6,13,14,17 Kobus et al. claimed that if the semen is absorbed by the fabric and the stain cannot be improved by excitation or emission conditions, the fluorescence is significantly reduced.…”

The Similarity Measurement of Human DNA Profile Using Fuzzy Similarity

“…Many terrorism and natural disasters have caused ISSN : 1411 3724 Eksakta : Berkala Ilmiah Bidang MIPA many fatalities, some of which can no longer be recognized or identified due to damage to some or all parts of the victim's body. To be able to identify victims, genetic information is needed (DNA (deoxyrebous nucleid acid) from the victim [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”