Assault on women
Raghav Ramful
By Raghav Ramful
Published on 13th June, 2008
Sexual assault on women is quite a common occurrence and there is no single week that goes by without any such news being splashed in local newspapers. At such a pace, the seriousness of the problem might fade out because the more often you hear of it the less shocking it becomes.
However, one of these sexual assault cases that lingered on and kept the public abreast lately was that which occurred in Sodnac on May 23 in broad daylight. The press kept on the tempo flashing repeatedly a computer-generated portrait of the culprit until the case was finally solved last week. The victim, a university student was caught unawares along a muddy track bounded by bushes linking the bus stop at Trianon and residential area at Sodnac.
Usually, tracking down the culprit in such cases is quite a tedious task depending upon the clues at the disposal of the police. However, for this particular case contrary to previous ones, a computer-generated sketch of the aggressor was made up less than 48 hours after the crime and pasted in all police stations along with copies sent to the media. This prompt response of the police force, more particularly of the Police Information Technology Unit was quite revealing. This new mechanism fed with first hand description provided by the victim that was used judiciously by the IT team of the police set a solid ground and stepping stone to proceed to the nabbing of the culprit.
Specialised software
As a matter of fact, the computer-generated portrait of the assailant was made possible through the use of specialized computer software that generated a graphic image very close to reality.
A spokesperson from this specialized unit of the Police Force explains that the tools at the disposal of the IT unit along with in-depth training provided by French experts in the field remains a strong asset for the Police Force. The fact that the Sodnac sexual assault case was solved partly through the help of the IT team is also an important step in the right direction.
The French government, through its ambassador Jacques Maillard, handed over the IT equipment consisting of two laptops geared with specialised software called ‘Faces’ to the acting Commissioner of Police, Dhun Iswar Rampersad on April 16. The specialized software is made up of a data bank of a series of facial features that can be assembled following clues provided. In the same vein, handling such precious information from a victim requires a different approach and handling. This aspect has also been taken care of by the donor country and Dr Vasel came to Mauritius to fill in the missing link. Thus the police IT unit has been dispensed vital in-depth training related to the psychology and mental conditions of the victims.
All said and done, the final computer-generated image of the culprit will not serve its purpose if it does not depict his real features which in turn can only be described by the victim. “For that matter, the close collaboration of the victim is of utmost importance. However, only the description of the culprit given by the victim does not suffice to come up with the computer-generated image,” says a member of the IT unit.
He adds that there is a whole lot of guidelines and principles that have to be followed to come up with the final portrait.
Taking into consideration the state of mind of the victim and the trauma that follows a sexual or any other assault, the IT unit comes into action 48 hours after the assault. “This time gap is considered to be an important phase whereby the victim is given time to overcome the trauma and focus on the vital information and strong features she noticed on the culprit,” he adds.
However, he says, if between 48 hours to a week after the assault is considered a favourable period for a victim to provide the IT team with information concerning the culprit, after one week, this exercise might prove to be futile.
“After one week, the victim will have a tendency to forget important details that are vital to generate an image close to reality and the result would not be as sharp as it should have been,” he explains.
Meanwhile, during its latest national awareness campaign against crime that ended on June 8 the Police IT Unit designed and prepared a special guide ‘Le Portrait qui Parle’ that was distributed to the public. The guide, according to the IT team has been published in a bid to fight crime through the description of a suspect that might lead to his identification. Illustrations of facial features from the guide range from head shapes, projection of the nose to the setting of the ears, gears the reader towards noticing important features on an aggressor.
Facial recognition
The ability of FACES, the software used by the IT unit is also common among thousands of police agencies worldwide - including the CIA, FBI and the US Military.
Endorsed by crime fighting agencies and supported by police as a proven, effective tool, FACES has been used successfully for more than five years to identify, track and apprehend criminal suspects. It helps creating near-photo quality images and allows it to be integrated with facial recognition technologies.
Police can build a composite of a suspect, and use it to electronically search mugshot and other photo databases. Matches can then be presented as a "virtual lineup" for positive identification by witnesses. With an expanded database of 4,400 facial features, including new Latin, African-American and Asian components, the software lets you create accurate composites of either sex or any race. Selected features are blended together to produce a photo-quality composite image.
The software also has the ability to enhance image accuracy by choosing among three different hair tones: adding facial markings such as scars, moles, piercings, tattoos and earrings: and using hats, headwear and eyeglasses. against databases in multiple agencies or jurisdictions.
Usually, tracking down the culprit in such cases is quite a tedious task depending upon the clues at the disposal of the police. However, for this particular case contrary to previous ones, a computer-generated sketch of the aggressor was made up less than 48 hours after the crime and pasted in all police stations along with copies sent to the media. This prompt response of the police force, more particularly of the Police Information Technology Unit was quite revealing. This new mechanism fed with first hand description provided by the victim that was used judiciously by the IT team of the police set a solid ground and stepping stone to proceed to the nabbing of the culprit.
Specialised software
As a matter of fact, the computer-generated portrait of the assailant was made possible through the use of specialized computer software that generated a graphic image very close to reality.
A spokesperson from this specialized unit of the Police Force explains that the tools at the disposal of the IT unit along with in-depth training provided by French experts in the field remains a strong asset for the Police Force. The fact that the Sodnac sexual assault case was solved partly through the help of the IT team is also an important step in the right direction.
The French government, through its ambassador Jacques Maillard, handed over the IT equipment consisting of two laptops geared with specialised software called ‘Faces’ to the acting Commissioner of Police, Dhun Iswar Rampersad on April 16. The specialized software is made up of a data bank of a series of facial features that can be assembled following clues provided. In the same vein, handling such precious information from a victim requires a different approach and handling. This aspect has also been taken care of by the donor country and Dr Vasel came to Mauritius to fill in the missing link. Thus the police IT unit has been dispensed vital in-depth training related to the psychology and mental conditions of the victims.
All said and done, the final computer-generated image of the culprit will not serve its purpose if it does not depict his real features which in turn can only be described by the victim. “For that matter, the close collaboration of the victim is of utmost importance. However, only the description of the culprit given by the victim does not suffice to come up with the computer-generated image,” says a member of the IT unit.
He adds that there is a whole lot of guidelines and principles that have to be followed to come up with the final portrait.
Taking into consideration the state of mind of the victim and the trauma that follows a sexual or any other assault, the IT unit comes into action 48 hours after the assault. “This time gap is considered to be an important phase whereby the victim is given time to overcome the trauma and focus on the vital information and strong features she noticed on the culprit,” he adds.
However, he says, if between 48 hours to a week after the assault is considered a favourable period for a victim to provide the IT team with information concerning the culprit, after one week, this exercise might prove to be futile.
“After one week, the victim will have a tendency to forget important details that are vital to generate an image close to reality and the result would not be as sharp as it should have been,” he explains.
Meanwhile, during its latest national awareness campaign against crime that ended on June 8 the Police IT Unit designed and prepared a special guide ‘Le Portrait qui Parle’ that was distributed to the public. The guide, according to the IT team has been published in a bid to fight crime through the description of a suspect that might lead to his identification. Illustrations of facial features from the guide range from head shapes, projection of the nose to the setting of the ears, gears the reader towards noticing important features on an aggressor.
Facial recognition
The ability of FACES, the software used by the IT unit is also common among thousands of police agencies worldwide - including the CIA, FBI and the US Military.
Endorsed by crime fighting agencies and supported by police as a proven, effective tool, FACES has been used successfully for more than five years to identify, track and apprehend criminal suspects. It helps creating near-photo quality images and allows it to be integrated with facial recognition technologies.
Police can build a composite of a suspect, and use it to electronically search mugshot and other photo databases. Matches can then be presented as a "virtual lineup" for positive identification by witnesses. With an expanded database of 4,400 facial features, including new Latin, African-American and Asian components, the software lets you create accurate composites of either sex or any race. Selected features are blended together to produce a photo-quality composite image.
The software also has the ability to enhance image accuracy by choosing among three different hair tones: adding facial markings such as scars, moles, piercings, tattoos and earrings: and using hats, headwear and eyeglasses. against databases in multiple agencies or jurisdictions.