Murder case highlights urgent need for forensic lab in Kohima

KOHIMA — The recent murder of 22-year-old Vihozhonu Zao has exposed the urgent need for a fully equipped Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in the state capital, Kohima.

Currently, Nagaland’s only FSL is located at Kachari Gaon in Dimapur. As a result, forensic teams must be dispatched from Dimapur for every case in Kohima requiring scientific examination, delaying both police investigations and the performance of final rites by bereaved families.

Two recent cases in Kohima have underscored this gap — including that of Vihozhonu Zao, whose body was discovered by passersby around 6 am on October 25 at Old Ministers’ Hill Colony.

According to police sources, the forensic team from Dimapur was informed around 9 am and arrived at the scene only around 1 pm for examination.

The police were able to move the body for post-mortem only after the forensic team completed its procedures, following which it was handed over to the family for the last rites later that day.

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Similarly, on September 24, an unidentified body was found at a construction site in Lerie, Kohima. Although the body was found in the morning, the forensic team could reach the site only at 1.50 pm to conduct the necessary examination.

During the intervening hours, police and family members could do little but wait, causing both emotional distress and procedural delays, a journalist observing the process noted.

At a candlelight vigil held in memory of Vihozhonu Zao at PHQ Junction on Friday, Meshenlo Kath highlighted the lack of forensic infrastructure in the capital.

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“Kohima is the capital, but there is no forensic lab to conduct post-mortems promptly,” Kath said. “People had been waiting since morning to move the body but could not do so until the forensic team arrived. How many hours must we wait for the dead to be moved? The government must take responsibility.”

Over the years, the Nagaland Forensic Science Association (NFSA) has repeatedly raised concerns over the ill-equipped state FSL and urged the government for upgrades, but progress has remained stagnant.

The FSL branch in Nagaland was first established in 1982 under then Chief Minister JB Jasokie and was later relocated to its current site at Kachari Gaon.

Though the Nagaland FSL was revamped and inaugurated in 2018, it still lacks full-fledged facilities, sources said.

‘Set up new FSL in Kohima’

Meanwhile, the Association of Kohima Municipal Wards Council (AKMWC) has written to the home commissioner, Nagaland, urging the government to expedite the upgradation of the Dimapur FSL to full capacity and to establish a new forensic lab in Kohima.

“With due respect, in relation to the brutal murder of Miss V Zao, a young soul and aspiring basketball star, it is disheartening that although the body was discovered and reported to police by 7 am, forensic personnel from Dimapur reached only after 2 pm,” the AKMWC stated in its letter.

“This seven-hour wait subjected the bereaved family, friends, and neighbours to needless torment due to the absence of a forensic facility in Kohima,” it added.

The association underscored that forensic science plays an indispensable role in crime scene management, investigation, and production of court-admissible evidence.

“The absence of such facilities has long handicapped law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies, resulting in delay or denial of justice,” the letter read.

The association stated that it could “no longer remain a mute spectator” and urged authorities to address the issue urgently, warning that it would take all necessary steps to ensure the just demands of Kohima’s residents are met expeditiously.