Kalyani Singh’s psycho-behavioural exam not video-recorded: Expert

Ranjeeta Kumari, Senior Scientific Officer, Forensic Psychology Division, CFSL, Delhi, who conducted psycho-behavioural assessment of Kalyani Singh, accused in the murder case of advocate Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, aka Sippy Sidhu, today said the assessment was not video recorded.

She said it was based on their observations and memory. The defence counsel conducted cross examination of Ranjeeta Kumari today in the court and raised many questions over the authenticity of the test.

On one question, the expert witness said she had put all relevant questions which were provided by the investigating officer. Apart from that she had not asked any other questions .

On another question, she said she had no medical report to establish that the accused was physically and medically fit at the time of the interview. The examination-in-chief of Ranjeeta Kumari was done on October 10, 2024 when she told the CBI court that accused appeared deceptive in her statements about her knowledge and involvement in the alleged crime.

Ranjeeta Kumari told the court that on June 20, 2022, she came to Chandigarh and went to the CBI office where the accused was under the custody of CBI. She said they interviewed the accused and on the basis of observation, a report was prepared. During the psycho-behavioural assessment, it was observed that she responded negatively and avoided direct eye contact when relevant issues were discussed.

On the other hand, the defence counsel termed the examination of the accused being involuntary and forcible while she was in CBI custody for more than five days. He said the report being merely a possible opinion with no definite basis and no supportive tests.

The CBI arrested Kalyani Singh on June 15, 2022 on the allegation that she had murdered Sippy Sidhu in Sector 27 park of Chandigarh on the night of September 20, 2015. It claimed in the charge sheet that Kalyani was seen talking to Sippy Sidhu and thereafter killing him along with an unknown person with firearms on in the park.

After six years of investigation, the CBI also failed to find the culprits in the case and filed an untraced report in December 2020 with the request to allow further investigation. However, the court did not accept the untraced report and asked the CBI to further investigate the case.