When Sanjay Harmalkar sits down to sketch a portrait of asuspect in a crime, he has a list of specific questions. He starts with the sexof the offender, followed by the age, height, the eyes, nose and then moves onto the description of his or her face, specifics of facial hair, cheeks, hairstyle, the size of the forehead and so on. His is a meticulous process, onethat comes from years of experience. AndHarmalkar is experienced.
As the lone freelance sketch artist employed by the Goapolice, Harmalkar has spent over 20 years helping the authorities identifysuspects, through his unique art.
In the aftermath of the Vasco schoolgirl rape incident,Harmalkar spoke to a teacher, then the headmistress and finally the victim,coming up with three completely different sketches. Only the former and thelatter were released, the sketch done after consulting the headmistress hasbeen kept under wraps.
But, this confusion is not the fault of the artist. It doeshowever, throw up several questions, chief of them being, how seriously do thepolice take a sketch artist’s work and what is the rate of success once thesketches are complete?
“Since Goa Police doesn’t have a full time sketch artist thesuccess rate of the sketch is very negligible,” Harmalkar said. He remembersjust three instances when his art helped police to crack cases. Consideringthat he has created over 100 sketches for the police, the conversion rate isextremely low.
DGP Kishen Kumar admits that success rates from a sketch arehighly disputable. “In my 28 years of service in police, I have come acrossonly two cases where sketch of an accused really helped in nabbing theculprit,” he added.
Sanjay Harmalkar, now 53, has never charged the police forhis skills. Yet, there is no one who can be recruited to do this on a full timebasis, as no qualified person can be found. “I have been doing this job as myhobby for the sake of police and the victims,” Harmalkar said.
The outgoing Chairperson of the Women Commission of Goa, MsEzilda Sapeco stated that a sketch plays an important part, which needs to bedone immediately, before the victim blocks out the painful incident. “In casesof molestation and rapes most of the time the accused are strangers. In suchcases the role of the sketch artist is very vital,” Sapeco said.
Harmalkar’s sketch helped the police detect the accused in amolestation case of a minor Russian girl at Arambol beach. “It was the casewhere chargesheet was finalised at the earliest by police due to my sketch,”Harmalkar said. But, in the end, more needs to be done by the police to ensurethat not only is this vital aspect of detection carried forward, but also, thatconversion rates increase.
