Panaji: The handling of the alleged rape
case of a Russian girl in Goa has exposed the tardiness of the
state police who initially treated the case as attempt to rape
despite the 25-year-old claiming that she was raped.
"The victim doesn't know proper English so it was duty of
police to call up the Russian representative in Goa. They just
kept on asking her questions for three and half hours and
finally treated it as molestation case," Vikram Varma,
representative of Russian consulate in Goa, told.
The girl was also allegedly asked to tone down the
complaint as accused, John Fernandes, was a highly influential
politician in the state.
John had unsuccessfully contested 2007 Goa Legislative
Assembly election from Benaulim constituency.
Superintendent of Police and spokesperson for the Goa
police department Atmaram Deshpande admitted that the state
police were not even searching for the accused and the car, in
which the offence took place.
The confiscation of car was important as the victim was
allegedly raped in the car and the girl later claimed that she
had forgotten her undergarment in the car in a hurry to escape
from clutches of the accused after the rape, Varma said.
Moreover, the accused, who was not even questioned by
the police addressed a press conference just next to their
headquarters, he said.
"It was of no use to search for the accused as the court
had restrained us from arresting him and in case we had to
attach his car, he would have claimed that we planted evidence
in that. The Evidence Act makes it clear that the evidence
should be collected through accused," Deshpande said.
Senior police officers though claim that the case was
transferred to the Crime Branch after the victim alleged that
Colva police inspector Siddhant Shirodkar was "biased", police
refuse to act against Siddhant claiming that there is no
complaint against him.
The case is also likely to figure in the ensuing state
Legislative Assembly session.
Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar, said moral
degradation of politicians is showing up at bureaucratic
level.
"First it was rape on British, later German and now
Russian. Is there a law and order situation in the state?
Parrikar questioned.
Even as the Crime Branch has now taken over the case, the
car was finally surrendered by accused, eight days after the
incident. The medical test on the accused was conducted after
a week.
The state police is silent on the revelation of rape in
the medical test conducted on the 25-year-old victim, who has
now even lost her job in a five star hotel due to alleged
political interference.
The hotel, apparently, has asked the girl not to report
to duty under political pressure.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 16:17