BANGALORE: A fast track sessions court on Tuesday commenced hearings in the case relating to the murder of Pratibha Murthy, an employee of a business process outsourcing firm.

Judge K. Sukanya of the 7th Fast Track Sessions Court recorded the evidence of C.V. Gowda of the Centre for DNA Fingerprints and Diagnostics. The evidence was recorded in camera. The court is also expected to record evidence of the forensic expert and the doctor who did the autopsy. Mr. Gowda is among the few important prosecution witnesses.

Pratibha, who was working in a leading call centre in Electronics City, was kidnapped, raped and murdered on the outskirts of the city, off Kanakapura Road on December 12, 2005. The accused, Shiva Kumar, was the driver of a cab hired by the company to transport its staff.

Shiva Kumar drove Pratibha to an isolated area in Anjanapura New Layout, about six km from her house, and allegedly murdered her, according to police. He threw the body in an isolated area, which was found three days later.

On Tuesday, the recording of Mr. Gowda's evidence was delayed following S. Shankarappa, counsel for Shiva Kumar, objecting to the commencement of the trail with C.V. Gowda's evidence. Mr. Shankarappa contended that the evidence had to begin from witnesses who had seen the body. He said the DNA test was done after filing of the charge sheet.

Special Public Prosecutor K. Janardhan objected and said Pratibha's case was solely based on circumstantial evidence, wherein each circumstance need to be proved. "The DNA test report throws light on the molestation and rape of Pratibha. The discovery of the body was altogether different," he said.

The Public Prosecutor later told The Hindu that Mr. Gowda's evidence was in camera as there would be certain personal references regarding the rape and murder of Pratibha. Pratibha's husband Pavan Murthy, her mother and uncle were present in the court.

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