Adultery tests .......TOI 30/07/2011

Infidelity tests now a common affair 

Neha Bhayana | TOI-CREST EDITION 


One morning last month,Dubai resident Raj Kanodia fished out a used bedsheet from the laundry basket while his wife was away.He then swiped his mouth with a cotton bud to collect saliva,sealed it in an envelope,and couriered it to a Hyderabad laboratory along with the used bed linen.
A week later,the 34-yearold got his answer.As I suspected,the stain on the bedsheet was indeed semen.And the DNA did not match mine, he says.Kanodia,who has been married for two years,was hurt but is still glad he ordered the test.If I hadnt,I would have been nagged by doubt, says the former Delhi resident,adding that he confronted his wife and they are still trying to work things out.
The test was life-altering for Kanodia,but at the laboratoryOne Touch Solutions and Services (OTS)it was a routine infidelity test.The lab gets at least two to three such requests a month,mostly from young,married men.
Though the infidelity test,which is popular abroad,is relatively new to India,demand for it has been increasing,says Ritu Sohaney,a DNA test consultant at OTS.
The lab gets used condoms,cigarette butts,underwear,waxing strips,tongue cleaners,earbuds,nails and blood-stained bedsheets for testing,she adds.
The Indian Biosciences Laboratory in Gurgaon also receives four to five enquiries every month from young people who want to know how they can nail their cheating spouses.The company charges Rs 27,920 to test one suspicious object.