There isn’t a day when we don’t hear or read about a crime. Can we compare the world we live in with the jungle where the predators pounce upon their prey? We accept this fact as a law of nature; a big fish eats a small fish, bigger animal devours the weaker, smaller animal. But the same rule doesn’t apply to human beings. Human beings HAVE MIND, FEELINGS, RATIONALE, emotions and SENSITIVITY. We don’t eat one another. We eat food. We can think what is right and wrong. We have feelings like love, compassion, morality and empathy. Human mind can be creative, innovative, inventive etc. But HUMAN MIND has a DARK SIDE too. Human mind can be vicious, manipulative and barbaric.
History books are full of wars, bloodshed, deceit, dictatorship, invasions etc. Humans can be highly civilized and barbaric, ruthless, aggressive at the same time. Our world is a combination of good and bad. Hence, every country has a government or a ruler and a system to maintain law and order. Every country has its police to check the crime and bring the criminals to books. Despite all the MEASURES to PREVENT THE CRIMES, CRIMINALS have SINISTER WAYS TO HARM the VULNERABLE.
Rape is one of the most heinous crimes. But this crime can happen anywhere and every where. I think rapists are perverts, or may be the rapist overpowers a woman thinking that he is physically stronger than the victim. The rapists like predators, prowl, the lonely, dark places. The lonely beaches may be their favorite haunt. too. RECENTLY GOA WAS IN NEWS ON ACCOUNT OF A NUMBER OF RAPE CASES.
- According to the sources two men were arrested for confining a woman from northeast in their flat and raping her for THREE DAYS. They promised to offer her a job. The woman was lucky to escape, and call the Police Control Room. The incident happened in the last week of July 2021.
2. On 25th July two minor girls were gang raped by LOCALS at Benaulim beach in South Goa. The horrific incident shook the Goans terribly. According to the sources , a group of four girls and six boys, including two minor survivors and a minor boy visited the Benaulim beach at 11.30 pm. A few members of the group left later on, leaving behind three boys and two minor girls. As the girls approached their cars at 3,30 am, the FOUR ACCUSED ACCOSTED THEM POSING AS THE COP. One of the culprit was carrying a baton. THEY THREATENED TO ARREST THE YOUNGSTERS AND SLAPPED THE THREE BOYS, THREW ALCOHOL INTO THE EYES OF ONE OF THEM, AND MOLESTED THE MINOR GIRLS. One of the accused dragged a minor into the car, but she fled to the beach. The accused chased her, dragged her into the bushes and raped her. Another accused forcibly carried the second girl to a lonely spot and raped her. The group was later let off.
As if it wasn’t enough, the next afternoon on Sunday, one of the boys was called by the accused and threatened to pay Rs.40,000 before the end of July and another sum of Rs.25000/- in the next month, failing which the pics of the rape would be circulated on the social media. The two survivors were brave enough to lodge a police complaint against the accused.. CONSEQUENTLY, ALL THE FOUR ACCUSED were ARRESTED.
3. Another trauma was in store for the GOANS. A beautiful teenage girl went missing. Her semi-bare body was found the next day, on 12th August 2021 at Calangute beach. The case is under investigation till date, but the foul play can’t be ruled out.
4. A day earlier, on 11th August 2021, a minor was kidnapped and raped by a 31 years old man from Maharashtra.
Goans were infuriated. I came across comments like, “Goa has become UP, Bihar.” There were adverse comments on the political parties and the migrants from other states. This sort of mud-slinging doesn’t work. Politicizing the issue or blaming other communities from other states is unfair. Slandering the innocent people, other communities, calling them names is totally unwarranted. I WOULD WELCOME sensible, UNBIASED, UNPREJUDICED and intelligent measures to deal with the situation..
THE RAPES COMMITTED BY THE LOCALS
It is quite pertinent to mention here that as per sources 245 foreigners died in the last 12 years in Goa. Memories of brutal rape and murder of a British National, Scarlett Keeling must be still alive in the minds of Goans. TWO LOCALS, Samson D’Souza and Placido Carvalho, were accused of leaving the MINOR GIRL to die after drugging and BRUTALLY RAPING her. Scarlett Keeling was found dead at ANJUNA BEACH on 18th February 2008.
The investigation into Scarlett’s murder was fraught with setbacks. The sluggish justice system, change of prosecutor and the absence of a key British witness to testify (might be he received threats from the accused). The witness, Michael Mannion had told the police he had seen the school girl (Scarlett) hours before, lying in the car park of nearby Lui’s Bar with the local bartender D’Souza lying on top of her, but he DID NOT TESTIFY DURING THE TRIAL IN 2016.
Scarlett
SCARLETT”s murder ATTRACTED GLOBAL MEDIA ATTENTION. D’SOUZA and PLACIDO CARVALHO were both accused of crime. The EIGHT YEAR LONG TRIAL in a CHILDREN”s COURT resulted in both the accused being acquitted.
Michael Masala (Center) Scarlett’s mother (Extreme Right)
Eleven years after the killing of Scarlett, D’SOUZA was led out of the High Court and was pronounced GUILTY FOR THE SEXUAL ASSAULT AND KILLING OF THE BRITISH TEENAGER, SCARLETT KEELING, WHO WAS 15 YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS AT THE TIME OF HER DEATH IN FEB. 2008. SAMSON D’SOUZA was SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS RIGOROUS IMPRISONMENT.
In March 2017 an IRISH WOMAN, DANIELLE McLAUGHLIN WAS GANG RAPED. The Prime suspect, VIKAT BHAGAT, a local, brutally injured her, and slashed her face with a broken beer bottle in Palolem.
ARE WOMEN SAFE IN THEIR HOME? A GOAN WOMAN WAS RAPED IN HER HOME BY HER UNCLES FOR 10 years. The accused brothers had been raping the victim since she was 13 years. The woman, a member of a joint family, living in Varem, decided to break her silence and approached the police in October 2018. A case was registered against the accused under Sections 376 (punishment for rape and 355 (assault and crime). A case under Goa Children’s Act is also registered.
You can imagine how jittery I must be feeling by now. I stop here. In my next write-up, I’ll talk about how to root out this malady by taking concrete measures.
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