Presented by Senior Scientists Ruwan Illeperuma and Laeeque Ahmed (Forensic Science Queensland), this presentation will explore international experiences in forensic science.
Laeeque Ahmed:
Laeeque joined Forensic Science Queensland in August 2024 as a Senior Scientist in the Forensic Biology Division. With over a decade of extensive experience, he is a distinguished forensic scientist who has led pivotal DNA investigations at the Punjab Forensic Science Agency in Pakistan, his home country. He has been instrumental in resolving numerous high-profile cases, ranging from terrorism and homicide investigations to disaster victim identification and serial sexual assault cases.
At the upcoming ANZFSS meeting, Laeeque will share insights from his role as the lead DNA analyst in the high-profile Zainab rape and murder case in Pakistan. This landmark case, which saw a serial offender brought to justice, highlighted the power of forensic DNA in criminal investigations. The trial while relying solely on DNA evidence, set a new standard for forensic science in the region. His presentation will delve into the case's challenges, the strategies used, and its lasting impact on forensic practices in Pakistan.
Ruwan Illeperuma:
Dr. Ruwan Illeperuma is a qualified forensic DNA scientist with extensive experience in human identification and criminal investigations. Before joining FSQ, he was a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Open University of Sri Lanka.
For 18 years, Dr. Illeperuma worked as Senior Scientist at Genetech Molecular Diagnostics in Colombo, handling over 4,600 criminal DNA testing cases, including high-profile investigations. He testified as an expert witness in high courts for more than 200 criminal cases.
A Fulbright scholar with a PhD from the University of Colombo, he researched Forensic Molecular Anthropology at the University of Washington. He was a visiting lecturer at Sri Lanka Police College and National Police Academy for 14 years, training over 8,000 police officers and judiciary members.
Dr. Illeperuma has authored books on DNA evidence in criminal investigations and conducted researches on Genetic Genealogy, molecular anthropology of Sri Lankan populations, and animal forensics. His research on genetics of ethnic groups and aboriginal Veddas of Sri Lanka contributed significantly understanding population genetics of those populations.
He will be discussing two milestone cases he handled and testified in that showcase the evolution of forensic techniques in Sri Lanka. The first case from 2005 involves a 19-year-old Swedish-Sri Lankan woman's murder, where the investigation brilliantly combined traditional fingerprinting with manual 2nd generation DNA genotyping techniques to identify the perpetrator from a red-colored fingerprint at the crime scene. The second case from 2012 details how automated DNA genotyping technologies were used to track Sri Lanka's first scientifically proven serial killer responsible for murdering multiple women across the country, despite the absence of a formal DNA database, ultimately resulting in a death sentence to the perpetrator for crimes spanning from 2008.