Goa to have statues spreading message against women`s abuse

Panaji: Statues advocating a message against sexual abuse of women would be installed at two prominent water bodies of Goa, a local NGO said on Thursday.

Two of the Portuguese-era creeks, Rue de Ouvrem and Campal Creek, both running parallel through city of Panaji would host two statues that of a mermaid and a merman. "A statue of mermaid will have a flame in her hand, inspired by the Delhi gang rape victim," Goa Forgiving Trust director Jeronino Almeida told reporters here. The statues would spread the message that victimisation of women would not be tolerated in the state like Goa, where lakhs of tourists arrive here on vacation. Armando Gonsalves, another NGO official, said the statue of mermaid would be installed in the Rue de Ouvrem creek and that of a merman at the Campal Creek in Panaji. The work on the statues would start later this year and completed by early next year, Gonsalves said. "Sculptors of international repute would be engaged to carve out the statues," he said. PTI