NGO spits fire at Goa State Aids Control Society
By Preetu Nair
PANJIM: An NGO, working with people living with HIV/AIDS, has alleged that people living with HIV/ AIDS are feeling discriminated, as very little budget is provided to the drop-in-coping centres (DIC) for people living with HIV/AIDS, even as the money is being wasted in printing “unnecessary” materials.
Demanding the removal of the present Project Director and two Deputy Directors of Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS), accusing them of corruption, the NGO -- Positive Lives Foundation (PLF- Goa) — in a press conference stated that they would submit their charter of demands to the government soon. “If the government fails to take action within a month, then we would sit on an indefinite hunger strike,” threatened Jaffer Inamdar, Program Manager, PLF.
Incidentally, things went sour between GSACS and PLF, when PLF was allotted only Rs 5 lakh for the year 2007-08, to run their DIC, a centre where people living with HIV/AIDS gets together. A fact not denied by Inamdar. “We need to receive more funds to help people living with HIV/AIDS, who have greater needs. They need to have access to medicines, nutritional food, educational material to understand HIV/AIDS better, economic and moral support as they are fighting a life threatening illness,” said Inamdar.
Besides, they have demanded that the state government should make allocation of funds for a new CD4 count machine at South Goa, issue a discount "Traveling Identity Cards" to all individual without disclosing their identities, ensure free of cost medicines for management of opportunistic infections (OI) to avail at all talukas and ensure women's empowerment program and nutritional and supplement for HIV positive women and children.
Squarely blaming GSACS for its lack of commitment towards people living with HIV/AIDS, Inamdar alleged that there is only Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centre at Goa Medical College which doesn’t have adequate sitting arrangement or drinking water facility. “Doctors in the OPD’s at GMC are rude with a positive person and don’t treat them properly,” added Inamdar.
FUNDS allocated as per NACO norms:Dr Kaur
Speaking to GT, an apparently shocked Dr Dilraj Kaur, Director, GSACS refuted all charges made by PLF. She stated, “We are doing whatever is possible for people living with HIV/AIDS. We have to spend money as per National AIDS Control Organization’s (NACO) guidelines. Funds to be allocated component wise, either to NGOs or to DIC, are first allocated by NACO and re-appropriation between components is not permissible as per NACO guidelines”.
She stated that whatever funds have been allocated have been strictly in adherence to the guidelines and instructions issued by NACO. “At the highest level, the policy makers have allocated more funds for prevention of new HIV infections and spread of awareness (that is through IEC related activities). The allocation of funds for care, support and treatment are calculated based on the number of people infected with HIV and living with AIDS and accordingly the figures are disbursed to GSACS for further allocation of funds to the DIC. It is understandable that since the number of people not infected with HIV is much more than those infected, it is logical that the prevention effort and funds put in to ensure that new infections are prevented, would definitely be much more.”
Making it clear that she understands the problems of people living with HIV/AIDS, Dr Kaur said that she was the only Project Director to visit the DIC programme run by PLF and interact with HIV positive persons. “We have always taken up the issue of HIV positive persons and worked to find a solution to their woes,” added Dr Kaur.
Sources at GSACS reveal that as per the annual action plan approved by NACO for the year 2007-08, Goa would get Rs 569.91 lakhs. Of this, Rs 315.09 lakhs would be spent to prevent new infection and only Rs 10.66 lakhs would be spend on care, support and treatment. NACO has allotted Rs 10.66 lakhs to run the DIC, which is a sub-component of care, support and treatment.
“With two NGO’s running DIC in Goa , the money is equally divided between them. The above figure is a ceiling beyond which expenditure shouldn’t be incurred on any activity,” revealed a source at GSACS. Further, there is no allocation of fund for more ART centres or purchase of CD4 or CD8 machines.
Sources further reveal that the Project Director has already taken up the matter of CD 4 count machine with the Health Minister and a file has already been put up for procurement of machine from the state government funds.
(This article appeared in Gomantak Times,Panaji edition, Saturday, November 17,2007)
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Can a person be allowed to inspect the case papers in a case where he is allegedly the accused, under RTI?
PANJIM: Can a person be allowed to inspect the case papers in a case where he is allegedly the accused, under RTI? Yes, is the answer of the Goa State Information Commission (GSIC), which has directed PIO to provide access to all papers to the alleged accused.
However, Goa police doesn't agree with it. Alleging that allowing the accused to see the station files would actually set a bad precedent for other cases, they have approached the High Court. In their petition, the Public Information Officer (PIO), SP South Shekhar Prabhudesai has challenged the GSIC's order of April 20, 2007, by which the Commission had directed the police to provide access to all papers to Joao Pereira in the inquiry file of one Surjit Borkar.
After hearing the matter, the single bench of Justice R.S.Mohite, pending the hearing and final disposal of the petition stayed the execution of GSIC's judgment dated April 20, 2007. It is returnable within 4 weeks.
Pereira, on August 30, 2006, had applied to the PIO seeking inspection of all files on complaint of JC Pereira and N Fernandes from the records of Verna police station and also the complaint filed by Surjit Borkar on September 5, 2005. On September 25, the PIO partly allowed request.
When Pereira demanded that he be shown the case diaries pertaining to a specific case, the request was turned down as he is an accused in the same case and has been booked under section 341, 504, 506 (ii) r/w 34 IPC and is facing trial in the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao. Even the PIO instructed PI Verna to refuse the request of Pereira under section 8 (H) of RTI Act, 2005.
Aggrieved, he moved the Goa State Information Commission, which directed the PIO to provide access to all papers to Pereira on April 20.
However, counsel for PIO, Winnie Coutinho argued that the Commission has overlooked the provision of section 172 of CrPC, sub-Section 3 of Section 172 expressly prohibits the accused to have any access to the Police diary, except under limited circumstances, which is not there in the present case.
The petitioner sought to know from the High Court whether the Commission ought to have taken into consideration that the information sought was exempted under sec 8(1)(g) and (h) of the RTI Act and whether information contained in a case diary maintained under section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be obtained by making an application under RTI?
Further, Coutinho argued that allowing such an appeal would set a bad precedent for other cases and the Commission ought to have considered that station diary is an official communication in discharging policing duty and as such a police officer as a Public officer shall not be compelled to disclose communication made to him.
(Article by Preetu Nair appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition, Goa dated September 09,2007
However, Goa police doesn't agree with it. Alleging that allowing the accused to see the station files would actually set a bad precedent for other cases, they have approached the High Court. In their petition, the Public Information Officer (PIO), SP South Shekhar Prabhudesai has challenged the GSIC's order of April 20, 2007, by which the Commission had directed the police to provide access to all papers to Joao Pereira in the inquiry file of one Surjit Borkar.
After hearing the matter, the single bench of Justice R.S.Mohite, pending the hearing and final disposal of the petition stayed the execution of GSIC's judgment dated April 20, 2007. It is returnable within 4 weeks.
Pereira, on August 30, 2006, had applied to the PIO seeking inspection of all files on complaint of JC Pereira and N Fernandes from the records of Verna police station and also the complaint filed by Surjit Borkar on September 5, 2005. On September 25, the PIO partly allowed request.
When Pereira demanded that he be shown the case diaries pertaining to a specific case, the request was turned down as he is an accused in the same case and has been booked under section 341, 504, 506 (ii) r/w 34 IPC and is facing trial in the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao. Even the PIO instructed PI Verna to refuse the request of Pereira under section 8 (H) of RTI Act, 2005.
Aggrieved, he moved the Goa State Information Commission, which directed the PIO to provide access to all papers to Pereira on April 20.
However, counsel for PIO, Winnie Coutinho argued that the Commission has overlooked the provision of section 172 of CrPC, sub-Section 3 of Section 172 expressly prohibits the accused to have any access to the Police diary, except under limited circumstances, which is not there in the present case.
The petitioner sought to know from the High Court whether the Commission ought to have taken into consideration that the information sought was exempted under sec 8(1)(g) and (h) of the RTI Act and whether information contained in a case diary maintained under section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be obtained by making an application under RTI?
Further, Coutinho argued that allowing such an appeal would set a bad precedent for other cases and the Commission ought to have considered that station diary is an official communication in discharging policing duty and as such a police officer as a Public officer shall not be compelled to disclose communication made to him.
(Article by Preetu Nair appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition, Goa dated September 09,2007
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Former sex worker walks on the road to success
Former sex worker walks on the road to success
by Preetu Nair
PANJIM: When Renuka Madar decided to take a different path, she faced opposition from family and was smirked at by the community members. But today as she stands straight and strong, working hard to earn a decent living, her family and community members are forced to acknowledge that she has the will and courage to change her life.
Renuka is an ordinary woman, who lost her identity after forcing her to do prostitution at Baina, but re-discovered herself by becoming an active member of Swift Wash, a mechanized laundry, which was started to rehabilitate victims of trafficking in Goa by a unit of an NGO Arz.
Speaking at a seminar titled "Rehabilitation of Trafficked Victims: Public Private Partnership" on the occasion of the first anniversary of Swift Wash, organized in collaboration with Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Renuka, who is now the president of Swift Wash recollected, "It was not easy for us to adjust to the change, but we were convinced and committed. No one supported us, no one believed us. But we believed in ourselves and Arz gave us the confidence and support to fulfill our dreams."
Renuka believes that on September 2006, she became truly independent. It was her first day at the laundry unit. "We have grown up in Baina, were pushed into prostitution here, were exploited and abused everyday. But now we return to the area every evening after a hard day's work with our head held high," added Renuka. The pride and feel of independence is evident in Renuka, who was sharing the dais with SDM Mormugao Levinson Matins, Wallace Pharmaceutical MD Cesar Menezes, MD, Arz Director Arun Pandey and Goa State Commission for Women Chairperson Dr Pramod Salgaonkar.
Renuka is amongst the 40 trafficked victims, economically rehabilitated at Swift Wash. Arun Pandey, who has worked hard to break the myth that trafficked victims hate to be economically and socially rehabilitated admitted that to prevent re-trafficking, trafficked victims need to be rehabilitated.
Explaining the problem of trafficked victims, Arun said, "The women once trafficked from other states to Goa for prostitution lose their identity and rights. They have just one identity of a "prostitute". This can only be changed if the trafficked victims are rescued and then economically rehabilitated. The state government and corporate bodies have helped us in our initiative."
However, even as Arun states that the State government has helped Swift Wash, it is pertinent to note that the government has failed to give shelter to women, trafficked victims and ordinary citizens in Baina, whose homes were razed by bull-dozers on a rainy morning of June 14, 2004. Some of the houses belonged to the trafficked victims who are working at Swift Wash.
The failure of the state to give a home to these women is not denied by Dr Pramod Salgaonkar, who has been entrusted the work of providing alternate rehabilitation to the women in 2006. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Salgaonkar gave several excuses for the delay and finally added, "These problem will be there and we will have to work with these problems and find solutions".
--
by Preetu Nair
PANJIM: When Renuka Madar decided to take a different path, she faced opposition from family and was smirked at by the community members. But today as she stands straight and strong, working hard to earn a decent living, her family and community members are forced to acknowledge that she has the will and courage to change her life.
Renuka is an ordinary woman, who lost her identity after forcing her to do prostitution at Baina, but re-discovered herself by becoming an active member of Swift Wash, a mechanized laundry, which was started to rehabilitate victims of trafficking in Goa by a unit of an NGO Arz.
Speaking at a seminar titled "Rehabilitation of Trafficked Victims: Public Private Partnership" on the occasion of the first anniversary of Swift Wash, organized in collaboration with Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Renuka, who is now the president of Swift Wash recollected, "It was not easy for us to adjust to the change, but we were convinced and committed. No one supported us, no one believed us. But we believed in ourselves and Arz gave us the confidence and support to fulfill our dreams."
Renuka believes that on September 2006, she became truly independent. It was her first day at the laundry unit. "We have grown up in Baina, were pushed into prostitution here, were exploited and abused everyday. But now we return to the area every evening after a hard day's work with our head held high," added Renuka. The pride and feel of independence is evident in Renuka, who was sharing the dais with SDM Mormugao Levinson Matins, Wallace Pharmaceutical MD Cesar Menezes, MD, Arz Director Arun Pandey and Goa State Commission for Women Chairperson Dr Pramod Salgaonkar.
Renuka is amongst the 40 trafficked victims, economically rehabilitated at Swift Wash. Arun Pandey, who has worked hard to break the myth that trafficked victims hate to be economically and socially rehabilitated admitted that to prevent re-trafficking, trafficked victims need to be rehabilitated.
Explaining the problem of trafficked victims, Arun said, "The women once trafficked from other states to Goa for prostitution lose their identity and rights. They have just one identity of a "prostitute". This can only be changed if the trafficked victims are rescued and then economically rehabilitated. The state government and corporate bodies have helped us in our initiative."
However, even as Arun states that the State government has helped Swift Wash, it is pertinent to note that the government has failed to give shelter to women, trafficked victims and ordinary citizens in Baina, whose homes were razed by bull-dozers on a rainy morning of June 14, 2004. Some of the houses belonged to the trafficked victims who are working at Swift Wash.
The failure of the state to give a home to these women is not denied by Dr Pramod Salgaonkar, who has been entrusted the work of providing alternate rehabilitation to the women in 2006. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Salgaonkar gave several excuses for the delay and finally added, "These problem will be there and we will have to work with these problems and find solutions".
--
Friday, September 07, 2007
Shocking! Eating chicken daily raises breast cancer risk: Study
Broilers injected with steroids leads to hormonal imbalance in the body, reveals Goa Medical College's research
PANJIM: This is for those who love to have their daily quota of chicken or ham. It will perhaps be just a matter of time before you end up in a hospital, diagnosed with breast cancer.
Harsh, but shockingly true!
Latest research by the department of Pathology, Goa Medical College, reveals that broiler chickens, which are injected with steroids, if eaten regularly and for a long time, leads to an hormonal imbalance in the body, which increases the risk of breast cancer.
Worse still, eating chicken daily, added up with other factors - reproductive life (early menarche and late menopause), nulliparity, late child birth, genetic conditions, obesity, lack of physical activity, age, pesticides and tobacco - the risks increase manifold.
Dr R G Wiseman Pinto, Head, Pathology department, who is conducting the study said, "The body produces estrogen and progesterone, which is good, but by regularly eating broiler chicken, the exo (produced outside the human body) - estrogen and progesterone - acts on the body. If there is excess of the hormones in the body for a time, added with other factors, it increases the risk of breast cancer".
Five years of research reveals that while regular eating of broiler chicken is actually harmful because they are injected with steroids to ensure faster growth, packed ham and salami have certain chemicals (preservatives) that are actually carcinogenic in nature.
In the last few years, many young girls in the age group of 21 to 30 have been detected with breast cancer. Incidentally, a study of 571 cases reveal that the number of patients with breast cancer in the age group of 21 to 30 is 4.7 percent, in 31 to 40 years in 22.9 percent, in the age group of 41 to 50 is 29.4 percent, 51 to 60 years is 22.9 percent and above the age of 61 is 19.3 percent. The percentage of breast cancer below the age of 20 in Goa is 0.34 percent.
Dr Pinto attributes this to early menarche amongst today's girls.
"Earlier, the girl child used to have menarche (menstrual period) by the age of 13 or 14, but today a girl of 8 has menarche. This is mainly due to excessive consumption of broiler chicken, ham and salami from a young age. The youngest patient we have had with breast cancer was 18 years old," said Dr Pinto.
Though the research is yet to be completed, the departments along with NGOs are conducting camps advocating that people go vegetarian.
"We are emphasizing that instead of eating boiler chicken daily, they should eat it once a week or shift to eating fish," added Dr Pinto.
The study being conducted in GMC reveals:
BOX 1 :
TYPES OF CANCER AMONG WOMEN
Breast: 31.9 %
Cervix: 15.1 %
Ovary: 4.6 %
Thyroid: 3.7 %
Stomach: 3.5 %
Rectum: 3.5 %
Lymphoma: 2.5 %
Mouth: 2.3 %
Colon: 2 %
Cases of breast cancer
From 1974-1983: 196
From 2001+2002: 590
2003: 205
2004: 230
2005: 243
2006: Not available
2007: Not available (but tentative figure is more than 300 cases)
Article published in Gomantak Times, Panaji, Goa dated 06 September,2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
RTI helps in revealing illegality in Goa
PANJIM: The stone crushers, which destroyed the lives of Saleli residents forcing them to raise their head in revolt against their khase, were operating illegally in orchard and agricultural zone.
The fact that several metal industries were operating illegally is not new. The villagers were always alleging the same. But now its official: of the 13 stone crushers (metal industries), four were operating in orchard and cultivable zone as per Regional Plan 2001and there are no records available about 5 stone crushers.
Information received from the office of the Senior Town Planner, North Goa District level office of TCP, Mapusa, under the Right to Information Act reveal this. Dr Claude Alvares, Director, The Goa Foundation, had asked information regarding nine stone crushers operating in the village. Dr Alvares is helping Saleli villagers in their fight against stone crushers and quarrying.
While M/s Souparnika Metal Industries (survey no 73/1), M/s Madhav Rameshwar Industries (survey no 62/1 (p)) and M/s Rehamaniya Metal Industries (survey no 75/1(P)) were operating in orchard zone, M/s Shani Metal Industries (survey no 55/0) was existing in the cultivable land as well as on survey no 62/1, which is party orchard and partly cultivable land.
Shockingly, there are no records about the other four metal industries—M/s Kane Metal Industries, M/s Rudrashwar Metal Industries, M/s Parvati Enterprises, M/s Laxmi Metal Industries and M/s Foures Metal Industries, which have been operating in the village. "The details of other industries are not furnished as the same are not available in the Taluka office of Bicholim," said James Mathew, STP and PIO, North Goa District level office of TCP, Mapusa in his reply to Dr Alvares.
Infact, in January 2006, Dr Alvares had brought to the notice of the Deputy Collector and SDM Bicholim that the stone crushers were operating illegally without providing wind-breaking walls and the quarrying operations that feed the stone crushers were operating in the forest area, a zone that doesn't permit such activities. He had also pointed out that the constant dynamiting operations for quarrying was illegal as it is not permitted near settlements and irrigation canals.
However, the metal industries lobby's stand: we are right and operating in the industrial area. Even in their reply in the court of SDM Bicholim they stated that all allegations are baseless and unwarranted. "The quarries are being operated since long by obtaining necessary leases from Mines department," they argued. Some from the metal industries lobby also submitted that the area occupied by the stone crushing units have been converted into "industrial" by the competent authorities.
Now with hard facts glaring at the face of the sanctioning authorities, one just hopes that Saleli residents struggle may finally end with the closure of illegally operating stone crushers.
(An earlier version of the article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim,11 August 2007)
The fact that several metal industries were operating illegally is not new. The villagers were always alleging the same. But now its official: of the 13 stone crushers (metal industries), four were operating in orchard and cultivable zone as per Regional Plan 2001and there are no records available about 5 stone crushers.
Information received from the office of the Senior Town Planner, North Goa District level office of TCP, Mapusa, under the Right to Information Act reveal this. Dr Claude Alvares, Director, The Goa Foundation, had asked information regarding nine stone crushers operating in the village. Dr Alvares is helping Saleli villagers in their fight against stone crushers and quarrying.
While M/s Souparnika Metal Industries (survey no 73/1), M/s Madhav Rameshwar Industries (survey no 62/1 (p)) and M/s Rehamaniya Metal Industries (survey no 75/1(P)) were operating in orchard zone, M/s Shani Metal Industries (survey no 55/0) was existing in the cultivable land as well as on survey no 62/1, which is party orchard and partly cultivable land.
Shockingly, there are no records about the other four metal industries—M/s Kane Metal Industries, M/s Rudrashwar Metal Industries, M/s Parvati Enterprises, M/s Laxmi Metal Industries and M/s Foures Metal Industries, which have been operating in the village. "The details of other industries are not furnished as the same are not available in the Taluka office of Bicholim," said James Mathew, STP and PIO, North Goa District level office of TCP, Mapusa in his reply to Dr Alvares.
Infact, in January 2006, Dr Alvares had brought to the notice of the Deputy Collector and SDM Bicholim that the stone crushers were operating illegally without providing wind-breaking walls and the quarrying operations that feed the stone crushers were operating in the forest area, a zone that doesn't permit such activities. He had also pointed out that the constant dynamiting operations for quarrying was illegal as it is not permitted near settlements and irrigation canals.
However, the metal industries lobby's stand: we are right and operating in the industrial area. Even in their reply in the court of SDM Bicholim they stated that all allegations are baseless and unwarranted. "The quarries are being operated since long by obtaining necessary leases from Mines department," they argued. Some from the metal industries lobby also submitted that the area occupied by the stone crushing units have been converted into "industrial" by the competent authorities.
Now with hard facts glaring at the face of the sanctioning authorities, one just hopes that Saleli residents struggle may finally end with the closure of illegally operating stone crushers.
(An earlier version of the article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim,11 August 2007)
Friday, August 10, 2007
Justice Delayed: NHRC intervenes
PANJIM: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to DIG Ujjwal Mishra asking him to submit the report about the alleged rape of a girl in Colva and the subsequent delay in registering an FIR within four weeks.
In case of a delay or default to submitthe requisite information /report within 4 weeks from the date of receipt of this notice, then the Commission has warned that they may proceed to take such action as it deems proper.
An intimation/ complaint was send to Chairperson, NHRC on July 6, 2007 by advocate Norma Alvares after reading the story in GT, wherein she stated that the enquiry and investigations appear to have come to a standstill because the accused has high political connections.
It must be recollected that on May 2, victim girl Ritika was allegedly picked up by Agnel and Anthony (both known to her) around 7.30 pm and taken to a flat in Chinchinim in a green coloured Zen, where she was allegedly raped and accused for four days.
DIG Ujjwal Mishra had admitted that they would conduct an inquiry against the Colva police for delay in registering a complaint of rape made by the 21-year-old girl. "It was very wrong on the part of the PI and he should have registered the complaint," Mishra had said.
The victim girl Ritika (name changed) had informed the Colva police about the incident on May 5, but the complaint was registered eight days later after most of the evidence was destroyed. The SP (South) was then instructed to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. "We will take departmental action. There was definitely a delay in registering the complaint," Mishra had added.
Ritika alleged that the police refused to register her complaint and on the contrary tried to broker a compromise between her and the main accused with the help of local MLA Miccky Pacheco.
Norma in her letter to the NHRC expressed fear that the police enquiry into this matter is dormant since, as already demonstrated, the accused is able to bring pressure on the local police and influence the course of justice. Or the investigation, if it is ever conducted, may just be eyewash leaving the girl doubly penalized: first by the abduction and rape and then by the fact that the culprits have gone scot-free, she stated, asking NHRC to order an impartial and independent inquiry into the incident.
The matter was then placed before the Commission on July 2, 2007 and on perusing the complaint the Commission passed an order to issue notice to the concerned authorities calling for a report within four weeks.
(Name of victim girl changed to protect identity)
An earlier version of the story appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition dated August 8th 2007)
In case of a delay or default to submitthe requisite information /report within 4 weeks from the date of receipt of this notice, then the Commission has warned that they may proceed to take such action as it deems proper.
An intimation/ complaint was send to Chairperson, NHRC on July 6, 2007 by advocate Norma Alvares after reading the story in GT, wherein she stated that the enquiry and investigations appear to have come to a standstill because the accused has high political connections.
It must be recollected that on May 2, victim girl Ritika was allegedly picked up by Agnel and Anthony (both known to her) around 7.30 pm and taken to a flat in Chinchinim in a green coloured Zen, where she was allegedly raped and accused for four days.
DIG Ujjwal Mishra had admitted that they would conduct an inquiry against the Colva police for delay in registering a complaint of rape made by the 21-year-old girl. "It was very wrong on the part of the PI and he should have registered the complaint," Mishra had said.
The victim girl Ritika (name changed) had informed the Colva police about the incident on May 5, but the complaint was registered eight days later after most of the evidence was destroyed. The SP (South) was then instructed to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. "We will take departmental action. There was definitely a delay in registering the complaint," Mishra had added.
Ritika alleged that the police refused to register her complaint and on the contrary tried to broker a compromise between her and the main accused with the help of local MLA Miccky Pacheco.
Norma in her letter to the NHRC expressed fear that the police enquiry into this matter is dormant since, as already demonstrated, the accused is able to bring pressure on the local police and influence the course of justice. Or the investigation, if it is ever conducted, may just be eyewash leaving the girl doubly penalized: first by the abduction and rape and then by the fact that the culprits have gone scot-free, she stated, asking NHRC to order an impartial and independent inquiry into the incident.
The matter was then placed before the Commission on July 2, 2007 and on perusing the complaint the Commission passed an order to issue notice to the concerned authorities calling for a report within four weeks.
(Name of victim girl changed to protect identity)
An earlier version of the story appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition dated August 8th 2007)
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Justice Delayed
Justice Delayed
Preetu Nair & Peter De Souza
COLVA/SOUTH GOA/INDIA
The Colva police will now face an inquiry for delay in registering a complaint of rape made by a 21-year-old girl. This was confirmed by DIG of Police, Ujjwal Mishra who admitted that the police had delayed in registering the case. "It was very wrong on the part of the PI and he should have registered the complaint," Mishra said.
The victim girl Ritika (name changed) had informed the Colva police about the incident on May 5, but the complaint was registered eight days later after most of the evidence was destroyed.
The SP (South) has been instructed to conduct an inquiry and submit the report. "We will take departmental action. There was definitely a delay in registering the complaint," Mishra said.
Ritika alleged that the police refused to register her complaint and on the contrary tried to broker a compromise between her and the main accused with the help of local MLA Miccky Pacheco. When this was brought to the notice of the DIG, he said, "Off hand I can't say, but the inquiry will reveal everything."
Though the police state that there are several loopholes in the various declarations made by the girl, they admit that the Colva police should have done its job of registering a complaint and investigating it. Even SP (South) S M Prabhudesai admitted, "I am conducting an internal inquiry because there are allegations about delay in lodging the complaint."
The girl's story
On her 21'st birthday on May 2, Ritika was allegedly picked up by Agnel and Anthony (both known to her) around 7.30 pm and taken to a flat in Chinchinim in a green coloured Zen.
There she was handcuffed and raped by Agnel. Each and every act was "video recorded" by Agnel to ensure that she never leaves him to marry another man, she alleged.
The trauma and nightmare that started on her birthday continued for four days. From the second day she was allowed to move freely, but the moment her tormentors went out, they handcuffed her, alleged Ritika. Even Agnel's friends, Ajay and Seby, alleged to be close to Mickky, also came to the flat. "Ajay tried to sympathize with me, stating that I am like his daughter and I shouldn't worry," stated Ritika.
Finally, on May 5 late evening, she managed to escape. "There was no electricity. Only Anthony was at the flat and the main door was open. I changed my clothes and stealthily escaped," she said.
She was lucky to get a lift to Chinchinim church from where she called her aunt, who informed her that she was coming to the spot with the police. They arrived at the spot around 9 pm. The police then took her back to the flat, where they caught hold of Agnel, confiscated the handcuffs and video camera, even as Anthony managed to escape.
But greater shock awaited Ritika when she arrived at the Colva police station. "Mickky was there along with Ajay and Seby. He asked me to compromise and not register a complaint," she alleged. She further charged, "Though I wanted to lodge a complaint, PI Uday Parab, who arrived late in the scene, refused to register the complaint".
Finally, eight days after she escaped, the police registered her complaint on May 12, after SP (South) was contacted by an NGO Jan Ugahi. Later, she was sent for a medical test. The case now will be investigated by new Colva Police Inspector Sagar Ekoskar.
Friends turn abusers
Agnel befriended the family in 2005, when he first convinced Ritika's brother to keep his bull at their home, in exchange for a bike. Agnel, who works on the ship, is around 40-year-old, married and father of two.
Being from a poor family, their father expired when she was 7 and her mother works as a maid in Kuwait, they agreed. From then, Agnel started visiting them regularly and slowly started professing his love for Ritika. "He claimed that he wanted to divorce his wife because he loved me. But I refused," said Ritika.
(This story appeared in Gomantak Times dated 17/5/2007)
Name changed to protect identity
Preetu Nair & Peter De Souza
COLVA/SOUTH GOA/INDIA
The Colva police will now face an inquiry for delay in registering a complaint of rape made by a 21-year-old girl. This was confirmed by DIG of Police, Ujjwal Mishra who admitted that the police had delayed in registering the case. "It was very wrong on the part of the PI and he should have registered the complaint," Mishra said.
The victim girl Ritika (name changed) had informed the Colva police about the incident on May 5, but the complaint was registered eight days later after most of the evidence was destroyed.
The SP (South) has been instructed to conduct an inquiry and submit the report. "We will take departmental action. There was definitely a delay in registering the complaint," Mishra said.
Ritika alleged that the police refused to register her complaint and on the contrary tried to broker a compromise between her and the main accused with the help of local MLA Miccky Pacheco. When this was brought to the notice of the DIG, he said, "Off hand I can't say, but the inquiry will reveal everything."
Though the police state that there are several loopholes in the various declarations made by the girl, they admit that the Colva police should have done its job of registering a complaint and investigating it. Even SP (South) S M Prabhudesai admitted, "I am conducting an internal inquiry because there are allegations about delay in lodging the complaint."
The girl's story
On her 21'st birthday on May 2, Ritika was allegedly picked up by Agnel and Anthony (both known to her) around 7.30 pm and taken to a flat in Chinchinim in a green coloured Zen.
There she was handcuffed and raped by Agnel. Each and every act was "video recorded" by Agnel to ensure that she never leaves him to marry another man, she alleged.
The trauma and nightmare that started on her birthday continued for four days. From the second day she was allowed to move freely, but the moment her tormentors went out, they handcuffed her, alleged Ritika. Even Agnel's friends, Ajay and Seby, alleged to be close to Mickky, also came to the flat. "Ajay tried to sympathize with me, stating that I am like his daughter and I shouldn't worry," stated Ritika.
Finally, on May 5 late evening, she managed to escape. "There was no electricity. Only Anthony was at the flat and the main door was open. I changed my clothes and stealthily escaped," she said.
She was lucky to get a lift to Chinchinim church from where she called her aunt, who informed her that she was coming to the spot with the police. They arrived at the spot around 9 pm. The police then took her back to the flat, where they caught hold of Agnel, confiscated the handcuffs and video camera, even as Anthony managed to escape.
But greater shock awaited Ritika when she arrived at the Colva police station. "Mickky was there along with Ajay and Seby. He asked me to compromise and not register a complaint," she alleged. She further charged, "Though I wanted to lodge a complaint, PI Uday Parab, who arrived late in the scene, refused to register the complaint".
Finally, eight days after she escaped, the police registered her complaint on May 12, after SP (South) was contacted by an NGO Jan Ugahi. Later, she was sent for a medical test. The case now will be investigated by new Colva Police Inspector Sagar Ekoskar.
Friends turn abusers
Agnel befriended the family in 2005, when he first convinced Ritika's brother to keep his bull at their home, in exchange for a bike. Agnel, who works on the ship, is around 40-year-old, married and father of two.
Being from a poor family, their father expired when she was 7 and her mother works as a maid in Kuwait, they agreed. From then, Agnel started visiting them regularly and slowly started professing his love for Ritika. "He claimed that he wanted to divorce his wife because he loved me. But I refused," said Ritika.
(This story appeared in Gomantak Times dated 17/5/2007)
Name changed to protect identity
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Mining companies in Goa to pay compensation for crop loss
Mining companies in Goa to pay compensation for crop loss
Preetu Nair
preetu.nair@gmail.com
PANJIM: The mining companies will deposit compensation of Rs 3.6 crore
plus in the Bombay High Court, Panjim bench on or before August 30, 2007. This compensation
is for the 761 aggrieved farmers in Surla village,North Goa, whose fields have
been destroyed due to mining activity.
The High Court has appointed Deputy Collector/Sub Divisional Magistrate, Bicholim as Court
Commissioner for the purpose of disbursement of the amount deposited
in the Court. If there are farmers whose name do not find mention in
the list, then they would have to approach the Zonal Agricultural
Officer with an application raising a claim.
While M/S VM Salgaonkar & Brothers Pvt Ltd will have to pay a
compensation of Rs 85,56,930, M/S Chowgule & Co Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation Rs 85,53,263, M/S Salgaoncar Mining Industries will pay a
compensation of Rs 85,53,263, M/S VS Dempo & Co Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation of Rs 85,53,263, M/S DB Bandodkar & Co Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation of Rs 36,66,208 and M/S Timblo Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation of Rs 36,66,208.
Once the amount is deposited in the High Court by the mining
companies, the amounts paid to the occupants or owners between 1997
and 2007, would be deductible and adjustable on providing documentary
proof of payment. It was agreed by both parties that by paying the
compensation, the obligation of the mining companies as regards the
desilting of silts in fields would be discharged.
The villagers of Surla had suffered immense loss in agricultural yield
from the year 1993 due to silting of the fields from the adjoining
mining units and had filed a writ petition in the year 2004. A report
on evaluation of crop loss suffered by farmers from 1993-2004 and
assessment of cost of removal of silt and damage to agricultural
property in terms of fertility and water retaining facility in Surla
village had suggested that the farmers be paid compensation from
1993-2004 for loss of yield. This committee was constituted on April
5, 2005. The Court, while hearing the matter said that the
compensation should be paid from January 1, 1993 to December 31, 2006
to 761 occupants.
The committee report states that there are active mines on North, east
and South sides all along the hills in the village. Due to silting,
approximately 1090 Ha consisting of 124 Ha under paddy (both Kharif
and Rabi), 603 Ha under garden crops and 363 Ha under dry crops. While
there are fields that have incurred total loss of kharif and rabi
crops, the main yield of cashew crop has also fallen by 50 percent,
the report states.
Division bench of Justice RS Mohite and Justice NA Britto hearing the
matter has further directed all mining companies operating in Surla
village to carry out and undertake adequate protective measures such
as provisions catchment drains, providing protective walls for silt
arrestation/check dams in between as also a forestation of the dumps.
Chief Engineer, Water Resources, shall ensure that all mining
companies carry out the directions for protective measures. This will
be reviewed after a year and then a decision would be taken regarding
further compensation.
(An earlier version of the article appeared in GT Weekender, Panjim, dated 29 July,2007)
--
Preetu Nair
preetu.nair@gmail.com
PANJIM: The mining companies will deposit compensation of Rs 3.6 crore
plus in the Bombay High Court, Panjim bench on or before August 30, 2007. This compensation
is for the 761 aggrieved farmers in Surla village,North Goa, whose fields have
been destroyed due to mining activity.
The High Court has appointed Deputy Collector/Sub Divisional Magistrate, Bicholim as Court
Commissioner for the purpose of disbursement of the amount deposited
in the Court. If there are farmers whose name do not find mention in
the list, then they would have to approach the Zonal Agricultural
Officer with an application raising a claim.
While M/S VM Salgaonkar & Brothers Pvt Ltd will have to pay a
compensation of Rs 85,56,930, M/S Chowgule & Co Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation Rs 85,53,263, M/S Salgaoncar Mining Industries will pay a
compensation of Rs 85,53,263, M/S VS Dempo & Co Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation of Rs 85,53,263, M/S DB Bandodkar & Co Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation of Rs 36,66,208 and M/S Timblo Pvt Ltd will pay a
compensation of Rs 36,66,208.
Once the amount is deposited in the High Court by the mining
companies, the amounts paid to the occupants or owners between 1997
and 2007, would be deductible and adjustable on providing documentary
proof of payment. It was agreed by both parties that by paying the
compensation, the obligation of the mining companies as regards the
desilting of silts in fields would be discharged.
The villagers of Surla had suffered immense loss in agricultural yield
from the year 1993 due to silting of the fields from the adjoining
mining units and had filed a writ petition in the year 2004. A report
on evaluation of crop loss suffered by farmers from 1993-2004 and
assessment of cost of removal of silt and damage to agricultural
property in terms of fertility and water retaining facility in Surla
village had suggested that the farmers be paid compensation from
1993-2004 for loss of yield. This committee was constituted on April
5, 2005. The Court, while hearing the matter said that the
compensation should be paid from January 1, 1993 to December 31, 2006
to 761 occupants.
The committee report states that there are active mines on North, east
and South sides all along the hills in the village. Due to silting,
approximately 1090 Ha consisting of 124 Ha under paddy (both Kharif
and Rabi), 603 Ha under garden crops and 363 Ha under dry crops. While
there are fields that have incurred total loss of kharif and rabi
crops, the main yield of cashew crop has also fallen by 50 percent,
the report states.
Division bench of Justice RS Mohite and Justice NA Britto hearing the
matter has further directed all mining companies operating in Surla
village to carry out and undertake adequate protective measures such
as provisions catchment drains, providing protective walls for silt
arrestation/check dams in between as also a forestation of the dumps.
Chief Engineer, Water Resources, shall ensure that all mining
companies carry out the directions for protective measures. This will
be reviewed after a year and then a decision would be taken regarding
further compensation.
(An earlier version of the article appeared in GT Weekender, Panjim, dated 29 July,2007)
--
Friday, July 13, 2007
What are the German Foundation and its front organization doing with Right to Information ACT in India?
Regional Seminar on Right to Information organized by Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI), International Centre, Goa and Frederick – Ebert – Stiftung- India. 29 – 30 June 2007
A seminar on RTI was organized by Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI), International Centre, Goa and Frederick – Ebert – Stiftung- India. 29 – 30 June 2007.
I have a few questions on the role Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)
which I believe is a political foundations funded in Germany (Pre USSR regime
was covert foundation for channeling CIA money to India) doing with
Right to Information Act in India?
1) How do political foundations like Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)
and AMIC and now its Indian avatar Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI) go about setting their agenda?
2) What is the agenda of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation, FES and other
foundations and other German transnational networks active in INDIA?
3) Do these foundations use media to have access to politicians, key decision-makers from the media, academia, and business community?
4) How do they measure their own success? How do they create their goals and determine if they have accomplished them?
I am addressing these questions to all of you for your insights.
Regards
Preetu Nair
A seminar on RTI was organized by Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI), International Centre, Goa and Frederick – Ebert – Stiftung- India. 29 – 30 June 2007.
I have a few questions on the role Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)
which I believe is a political foundations funded in Germany (Pre USSR regime
was covert foundation for channeling CIA money to India) doing with
Right to Information Act in India?
1) How do political foundations like Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)
and AMIC and now its Indian avatar Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI) go about setting their agenda?
2) What is the agenda of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation, FES and other
foundations and other German transnational networks active in INDIA?
3) Do these foundations use media to have access to politicians, key decision-makers from the media, academia, and business community?
4) How do they measure their own success? How do they create their goals and determine if they have accomplished them?
I am addressing these questions to all of you for your insights.
Regards
Preetu Nair
Friday, June 29, 2007
Oppurtunities for Change
Asmi's marriage to Raja is an indication of a new liberation that's sweeping the women who had so far led a life of prolonged violence and self-destructive behaviour as commercial sex workers. Economically rehabilitated, she is the third woman who has changed the rules and her life, reports PREETU NAIR.
VASCO: Asmi married Raja in a low profile ceremony in a temple in Vasco on Friday. The wedding ceremony was performed, Raja applied sindoor on Asmi's forehead and they took seven pheras, legitimizing their relationship of last 4 years.
Their marriage may have been planned in heaven, but it needed courage and self-belief for the couple to break the shackles of tradition and say "I do" on the big day in their life. With this ceremony, Asmi has broken the age-old cultural taboo that prohibits a "Devdasi" from entering the wedlock.
Asmi was dedicated to Goddess Yellama at the age of 12 and forced into prostitution as a Devadasi in Goa. Devadasi is a religious practice, whereby parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty and requires the girl to become a prostitute. A Devadasi is forbidden to enter into a real marriage.
The mass demolition of cubicles in Baina's unofficial red light area on June 14, 2004, didn't change her situation, but in fact worsened it. With no economic rehabilitation in sight, she was forced to travel to other parts of the state for "business".
The real opportunity to transform her life came when she was economically rehabilitated by ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims in Goa, as part of its economic rehabilitation programme. She started working in a fully mechanized laundry unit, "Swift Wash", at Sancoale Industrial estate, which provides employment to 40 trafficked victims like her, mostly from Baina.
While the employment programme made women financially self-sufficient, marriage has given them social acceptance. Asmi is the third woman working at Swift Wash to tie the nuptial knot.
"I am very happy. I feel liberated and hope to inspire other women like me. Its nice to marry the man you love," reveals Asmi. Her act reflects a growing confidence among the women, who were once trafficked into the flesh trade and exploited everyday. Besides being a moment of great emotional and personal satisfaction, it is also a moment of realization for other girls like her: the onus of changing their lives is on them.
However, it wasn't easy for Asmi. Among the many tests she went through was refusal by her "parents" to except the relationship and Raja's initial resistance to commit. Asmi's "parents" were aghast that their daughter had dared to break the social tradition. "We have realized that our love for each other is more important than anything else. Initially, I was reluctant to marry, but now I am happy that I married Asmi," said Raja.
Seeing women resettled and doing well is the most rewarding part for Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ. "Economic rehabilitation has empowered trafficked victims who no more want to be in a relationship that is exploitative. They are increasingly emphasizing on marriage, which not only has legal sanctity but also social acceptance, which helps them in joining the mainstream," says Pandey.
This newfound confidence and inspiration would definitely help the survivors of the country's worst social tradition to pick up the threads of their lives by breaking the socio-economic compulsions.
(Name of the couple changed on request)
(An earlier version of the article appeared in GT Weekender, Panaji edition, 24 June 2007)
VASCO: Asmi married Raja in a low profile ceremony in a temple in Vasco on Friday. The wedding ceremony was performed, Raja applied sindoor on Asmi's forehead and they took seven pheras, legitimizing their relationship of last 4 years.
Their marriage may have been planned in heaven, but it needed courage and self-belief for the couple to break the shackles of tradition and say "I do" on the big day in their life. With this ceremony, Asmi has broken the age-old cultural taboo that prohibits a "Devdasi" from entering the wedlock.
Asmi was dedicated to Goddess Yellama at the age of 12 and forced into prostitution as a Devadasi in Goa. Devadasi is a religious practice, whereby parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty and requires the girl to become a prostitute. A Devadasi is forbidden to enter into a real marriage.
The mass demolition of cubicles in Baina's unofficial red light area on June 14, 2004, didn't change her situation, but in fact worsened it. With no economic rehabilitation in sight, she was forced to travel to other parts of the state for "business".
The real opportunity to transform her life came when she was economically rehabilitated by ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims in Goa, as part of its economic rehabilitation programme. She started working in a fully mechanized laundry unit, "Swift Wash", at Sancoale Industrial estate, which provides employment to 40 trafficked victims like her, mostly from Baina.
While the employment programme made women financially self-sufficient, marriage has given them social acceptance. Asmi is the third woman working at Swift Wash to tie the nuptial knot.
"I am very happy. I feel liberated and hope to inspire other women like me. Its nice to marry the man you love," reveals Asmi. Her act reflects a growing confidence among the women, who were once trafficked into the flesh trade and exploited everyday. Besides being a moment of great emotional and personal satisfaction, it is also a moment of realization for other girls like her: the onus of changing their lives is on them.
However, it wasn't easy for Asmi. Among the many tests she went through was refusal by her "parents" to except the relationship and Raja's initial resistance to commit. Asmi's "parents" were aghast that their daughter had dared to break the social tradition. "We have realized that our love for each other is more important than anything else. Initially, I was reluctant to marry, but now I am happy that I married Asmi," said Raja.
Seeing women resettled and doing well is the most rewarding part for Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ. "Economic rehabilitation has empowered trafficked victims who no more want to be in a relationship that is exploitative. They are increasingly emphasizing on marriage, which not only has legal sanctity but also social acceptance, which helps them in joining the mainstream," says Pandey.
This newfound confidence and inspiration would definitely help the survivors of the country's worst social tradition to pick up the threads of their lives by breaking the socio-economic compulsions.
(Name of the couple changed on request)
(An earlier version of the article appeared in GT Weekender, Panaji edition, 24 June 2007)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
DELAYED JUSTICE - Goa's Chidren's Court yet to dispose 56 cases
DELAYED JUSTICE - Chidren's Court yet to dispose 56 cases
by Preetu Nair
PANJIM: First the figures: Of the 83 cases in the Children's Court, only 27 have been disposed off, while 56 cases are still pending. Of the 27 cases which were disposed off, 11 persons were acquitted, 5 convicted, 7 discharged due to lack of evidence and 4 transferred as it had happened much before the Goa Children's Act 2003 came into force.
Now the fact: More than two years after the Children's Court started functioning for the speedy trial and disposal of cases where children are victims, paedophiles, rapists, child killers and kidnappers still roam scot-free.
Though the state government under pressure from media and NGOs had started the Children's Court in December 10, 2004 to ensure that every child has his/her childhood, it has not ensured that everything is in place in the Children's Court.
"The problem of delayed justice continues even now. The whole aim of fast justice in the Children's Court is far from achieved. The whole process is time consuming and it is a torture for the child, who is expected to come after two years before the Court and recollect everything and depose," observed Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims.
Arun is not talking without reason. He has three cases wherein minors have been abused pending in the Children's Court since last 3 years. Two cases are of rape and one is of child labour. "Till now the victim have not been called for deposition nor have the witnesses statement taken by the Court. Witnesses are going to the Court, only to get a new date for deposition," said Pandey.
Everyone agrees that so far there had been delay in delivering judgment as the cases were heard just once a week. But now with the Court sitting for three days a week instead of just one week, one just hopes that the Children's Court becomes a decisive tool to protect the life and dignity of our children.
Even Advocate and Child activist Albertina Almeida said that it is better to have the Children's Court thrice a week rather than just once a week. "But what I am more concerned about is the Court ambience, which is yet not sensitive enough or child friendly", she said.
"Attention also needs to be given to the provisions in the Goa Children's Act requiring a capacity development strategy for the training of judiciary so that they can be abreast with the developments in the Child rights law nationally and internationally," added Albertina.
Total cases in the Children's Court: 83
Cases disposed off: 27
Cases pending: 56
Persons acquitted: 11
Persons convicted: 5
Cases discharged: 7
Cases transferred: 4
(Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panaji, 23 June 2007)
by Preetu Nair
PANJIM: First the figures: Of the 83 cases in the Children's Court, only 27 have been disposed off, while 56 cases are still pending. Of the 27 cases which were disposed off, 11 persons were acquitted, 5 convicted, 7 discharged due to lack of evidence and 4 transferred as it had happened much before the Goa Children's Act 2003 came into force.
Now the fact: More than two years after the Children's Court started functioning for the speedy trial and disposal of cases where children are victims, paedophiles, rapists, child killers and kidnappers still roam scot-free.
Though the state government under pressure from media and NGOs had started the Children's Court in December 10, 2004 to ensure that every child has his/her childhood, it has not ensured that everything is in place in the Children's Court.
"The problem of delayed justice continues even now. The whole aim of fast justice in the Children's Court is far from achieved. The whole process is time consuming and it is a torture for the child, who is expected to come after two years before the Court and recollect everything and depose," observed Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims.
Arun is not talking without reason. He has three cases wherein minors have been abused pending in the Children's Court since last 3 years. Two cases are of rape and one is of child labour. "Till now the victim have not been called for deposition nor have the witnesses statement taken by the Court. Witnesses are going to the Court, only to get a new date for deposition," said Pandey.
Everyone agrees that so far there had been delay in delivering judgment as the cases were heard just once a week. But now with the Court sitting for three days a week instead of just one week, one just hopes that the Children's Court becomes a decisive tool to protect the life and dignity of our children.
Even Advocate and Child activist Albertina Almeida said that it is better to have the Children's Court thrice a week rather than just once a week. "But what I am more concerned about is the Court ambience, which is yet not sensitive enough or child friendly", she said.
"Attention also needs to be given to the provisions in the Goa Children's Act requiring a capacity development strategy for the training of judiciary so that they can be abreast with the developments in the Child rights law nationally and internationally," added Albertina.
Total cases in the Children's Court: 83
Cases disposed off: 27
Cases pending: 56
Persons acquitted: 11
Persons convicted: 5
Cases discharged: 7
Cases transferred: 4
(Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panaji, 23 June 2007)
Right to Information Act - Blame Game in Goa
PANJIM: When faced with an adversity, blame the
juniors! The superiors in Goa police had so far
triumphed over the problems by either passing the buck
on their inefficient juniors or the system.
Again the same trick was adopted when the South Goa
police failed to provide information under Right to
Information Act to one Samiro Pereira for more than
five months. South Goa SP Shekhar Prabhudesai who is
also the Public Information Officer (PIO) blamed his
juniors, SDPO Margao Tony Fernandes and SDPO Vasco
Dinraj Govekar for the delay. In turn, Fernandes
contended that Colva PI, his own subordinate had
delayed the submission of information, while Govekar
contended that there was no delay from his side.
However, State Chief Information Commissioner A
Venkataratnam and State Information Commissioner G G
Kambli were not impressed by the blame game and made
it clear that they can't accept the pleas of the of
the police officials that their subordinates and not
they themselves are directly responsible for the delay
in furnishing the information as the Police department
is a uniformed department based on hierarchy.
Criticizing the manner in which they pleaded
helplessness in the matter, the Information
Commissioners said, "If we accept this situation as
beyond the control of the PIO, we will be setting a
wrong precedent in the matter of implementation of the
RTI Act" and imposed a penalty of Rs 5000 each on the
PIO and Fernandes, while Govekar was exempted.
"We hold both the SP South (also PIO) and SDPO
Fernandes responsible together and jointly for the
delay caused in providing the information," they
stated in their order.
The Information Commissioners observed that the PIO
has to make efforts to get the information from his
colleagues/subordinates in the department however big
the department is. "It is the personal responsibility
of the PIO to get information requested for by the
citizen and to supply to him. Nowhere have been found
such inordinate delay as in a present case and such
casual approach of entering into correspondence as in
the present case of the Police department," they
added.
Pereira had submitted a request on August 17, 2006 and
as he didn't get any information, he finally
approached the Commission in second appeal to get the
information also take penal action against the SP.
Interestingly, once notice was issued to the SP
(South) and SDPOs, the appellant Pereira submitted
that he is not interested in pursuing the matter.
However, it was not entertained as he had moved the
appeal after the Commission after the order. "In all
probability there might be some pressure on him to say
so. There is no way of finding out one way or the
other," the Information Commissioners added.
(Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panaji. 22 June 2007)
BY PREETU NAIR
preetu_nair@gomantaktimes.com
juniors! The superiors in Goa police had so far
triumphed over the problems by either passing the buck
on their inefficient juniors or the system.
Again the same trick was adopted when the South Goa
police failed to provide information under Right to
Information Act to one Samiro Pereira for more than
five months. South Goa SP Shekhar Prabhudesai who is
also the Public Information Officer (PIO) blamed his
juniors, SDPO Margao Tony Fernandes and SDPO Vasco
Dinraj Govekar for the delay. In turn, Fernandes
contended that Colva PI, his own subordinate had
delayed the submission of information, while Govekar
contended that there was no delay from his side.
However, State Chief Information Commissioner A
Venkataratnam and State Information Commissioner G G
Kambli were not impressed by the blame game and made
it clear that they can't accept the pleas of the of
the police officials that their subordinates and not
they themselves are directly responsible for the delay
in furnishing the information as the Police department
is a uniformed department based on hierarchy.
Criticizing the manner in which they pleaded
helplessness in the matter, the Information
Commissioners said, "If we accept this situation as
beyond the control of the PIO, we will be setting a
wrong precedent in the matter of implementation of the
RTI Act" and imposed a penalty of Rs 5000 each on the
PIO and Fernandes, while Govekar was exempted.
"We hold both the SP South (also PIO) and SDPO
Fernandes responsible together and jointly for the
delay caused in providing the information," they
stated in their order.
The Information Commissioners observed that the PIO
has to make efforts to get the information from his
colleagues/subordinates in the department however big
the department is. "It is the personal responsibility
of the PIO to get information requested for by the
citizen and to supply to him. Nowhere have been found
such inordinate delay as in a present case and such
casual approach of entering into correspondence as in
the present case of the Police department," they
added.
Pereira had submitted a request on August 17, 2006 and
as he didn't get any information, he finally
approached the Commission in second appeal to get the
information also take penal action against the SP.
Interestingly, once notice was issued to the SP
(South) and SDPOs, the appellant Pereira submitted
that he is not interested in pursuing the matter.
However, it was not entertained as he had moved the
appeal after the Commission after the order. "In all
probability there might be some pressure on him to say
so. There is no way of finding out one way or the
other," the Information Commissioners added.
(Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panaji. 22 June 2007)
BY PREETU NAIR
preetu_nair@gomantaktimes.com
Friday, April 20, 2007
A deadly stigma!
A youth in Sattari in the Western State of Goa, India believes that TB kills and is not curable. In a remote village in Sanguem, an Anganwadi worker has no access to patients, due to the fear that she may spread the news that they have TB in the village. Anil Sawant stopped the magic pills because he had to travel 25 kms to the health centre for his medicines. These are some of the scary cases that plague the inner areas of the state. PREETU NAIR walks into the heart of Goa, into a different world. For the people living there, TB is not just a public health problem, but a social stigma .
TB kills. We don't even drink water from a house if there is a TB patient living there. What if I get TB after drinking the water?" asked Shidhu Varak, an 18-year-old literate youth from Dhangarwada, Poriem in Sattari. His friend, Dilip Gaonkar from Gholwada, Poriem added, "We don't even get married into a family if we know that anyone in the family had TB. It is a contagious disease and no medicine can ever cure it."
On the other hand, Nago Bhavdan from Corla Moti in Quepem has never heard of TB. His son, a student of standard IX has read about infectious TB and strongly believes that it is incurable. Believe it or not, TB still continues to be a dreaded, incurable disease caused due to a curse or sin in rural Goa. "
TB is not just a public health problem. It is a social problem and the patient is stigmatised and isolated in society. The failure of the health authorities to create awareness about the advances in treatment of TB has added to the woes," said Rajendra Kerkar, a school teacher and grassroots worker in Sattari taluka.
Despite social mobilisation, the TB control programme has not been able to break the myth that TB is contagious nor has been able to spread the message that there are other forms of TB besides pulmonary TB. They have yet to work to improve access to DOTS services in remote areas and overcome stigma of TB and discrimination against TB patients.
"TB is a dirty secret everyone wants to hide. In my village, three men died of TB in the last two years. They didn't take regular medicines and drank alcohol. Whenever I used to go to advise them, they would insult me and ask me who it was that told me that they have TB," revealed an anganwadi worker from a remote village in Sanguem taluka. Under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), modes of observation in villages are often Anganwadi workers who have no access to TB patients, due to the fear that she may spread the news that they have TB in the village and they will be stigmatised.
Further, talking on the condition that she is not quoted, she said, "Most of the people in and around the mining areas have symptoms of pulmonary TB. But they don't go for treatment as they believe that TB is not curable."
"The effort to stop the spread of TB and to ensure a TB free world is curbed by social stigma attached to the disease," admits Dr Bidan Das, State TB Officer, GSTCS. Even Dr Arvind Salelkar, Director of Health Services admits that the effort of changing the mindset of all persons concerned with TB has been a daunting task but yet intensive IEC efforts, training and retraining of staff we have taken a giant leap forward in tackling TB as its very roots.
But official facts are different from field reality. Even as officials at the Goa State Tuberculosis Control Society (GSTCS) demonstrate that DOTS is having its impact and excellent progress has been made with DOTS with case detection and treatment success rates, people in the remote villages in Goa live without easy access to the magic pills.
Anil Sawant was put on DOTS in 2005. Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) is an effective strategy for curing TB, which involves monitoring a patient for six months. The monitoring is crucial because failure to complete the drug treatment can lead to multi-drug resistant TB, which is extremely difficult to cure.
But within three months he stopped the treatment. Reason? "I was feeling better and I couldn't leave my shop and travel every alternate day to go to Hospicio Hospital, Margao, which is 25 kms away from my village for medicines," said Anil Sawant, who runs a tea stall in Dadolem, Sanguem taluka. Recollecting the days of ordeal he says, "I would leave at 6.45 am by bus and return at around 1 pm. This affected my business."
Even his 60-plus mother is suffering from infectious pulmonary TB, but she refuses to go to Margao every alternate day for medicines, which is given free of cost. "She is week but she feels weaker after the travel and therefore has stopped the medicines midway," he added.
Despite World Health Organisation's clear regional strategic plan (2000-2015) to sustain and enhance DOTS to reach all TB patients, improve case detection and ensure treatment success, the patients continue to drop-out of DOTS and nobody no filed visitor visits them to facilitate defaulter retrieval. If the so-called "success" of (RNTCP) is due to its directly observed treatment, then in rural Goa, the directly observed treatment has led to incidents of drop-outs as patients find it difficult to travel miles for treatment.
Worse still is the fact that with the primary health centres and sub-health centres failing to meet the need the health care needs of individuals and families in the community, people are forced to travel long distances to go to the district hospital. ""Earlier we used to go to the Community Health Centre at Savordem, which is 26 kms away from our village. But it doesn't have doctors and adequate equipments. We are made to wait for long hours, only to be sent back without treatment. Due to this we prefer to go to a private doctor," revealed Satyavan Dessai from Sulcorna in Quepem taluka.
Dr Debabar Banerji, Professor Emeritus, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU believes that the problem with RNTCP is that it is not being implemented not being fully implemented. "RNTCP is responsible to create a condition wherein the patients take the pills regularly.
Unless RNTCP ensures that person as a whole is dealt with, it has no meaning," he said. Dr Banerji further added, "There is a group of TB patients who are harassed by poverty and alcoholism. For them TB is a minor problem. The solution lies in solving the major problems of life along with treating TB".
No wonder despite claims of intensification of supervision and monitoring, rigorous record keeping and thorough follow-ups, people like the Sawant's continue to drop-out of the treatment midway.
Free pills, but no food
She doesn't have food to eat but gets the magic pill free of cost. Jani Singadi's was put on DOTS when she was tested sputum positive in January 2006. But the moment, 65-year-old Jani started treatment she felt weaker and had severe stomach ache. Added to that were the multi-layered crisis within the family: three orthopaedically disabled sons, surplus of hunger, no money, an illegal house gifted by a few philanthropists, rising debt, etc.
Unable to deal with the increasing health problems and with no one to take her to the sub-health centre, which is 2 km away at Nanoda, Bicholim, she stopped taking pills for a month. "I couldn't go because I was feeling weak. No field officer ever came to visit me. I started medicines again after sometime when I became seriously ill," she accepts candidly. Now after a year, she is again tested sputum positive at Goa Medical College.
This despite Dr VR Muralidharan, District TB Officer, North Goa claims that we have default retrieval action to retrieve the patient back on track to take medicines. "Our success rate in retrieving patients is very high," he added.
NO TIME FOR HEALTH
For the last three months, Shanti Shetikar has been feeling week. She has had consistent cough since last two months and has lost lot of weight-all symptoms of pulmonary TB. She went to the nearest sub-health centre at Kevona were the doctor gave her iron tablets. But all this has not helped. She has not bothered to go back to the sub-health centre.
"The doctor only comes once a week and that too for an hour. So it's really difficult to meet him. Moreover, we are very poor and no one looks at us in the government hospital. We are made to wait for long hours and then sometimes send back without check-up due to lack of facility. Because of this we prefer to go to a private doctor," she reveals.
So she went to a quack in the village who gave her six vitamin injections stating that she was feeling weak because she was vitamin deficient. However, it has not helped. For long she has been planning to go to for a proper medical check-up at the government hospital in Margao, which is nearly 30 kms away from her mining village in Quinamol, Sanguem, but she has not got time.
"What can I do? Everyday I have to go to the market to sell vegetables. The day I don't go, there is no money at home to feed to two hungry kids," she reveals. Shanti cultivates vegetables and sells them in the market to earn a living.
No tea in TB!
Vithal Parwadkar, who runs a tea stall in at Assnora, Bardez taluka, dilemma is strange. Few villagers have raised objections to him serving tea to "known" TB patients. "People tell me, 'He has TB and you are serving him tea in your stall. We don't want to have tea in the same glass, get us a new set of glasses'," he added.
Strange enough, people are so scared of TB that they have isolated one family in the village because the head of the family died of TB and the rest of the family members are frail and constantly coughing. Vithal reveals that the elder daughter had to be married off to a widower, as no one was ready to marry into the family. GT tried to meet the family, but in vain.
TB kills 1 person every minute in India
-- In Goa, more than 1 person die of TB every month.
- Goa has a high prevalence of tuberculosis as compared to other states
- Annual risk of TB infection is 1.5 % in rest of India, while in the Western region, especially Goa, the risk of TB infection is 1. 9 %
- 20 lakh people in Goa are at present suffering from pulmonary TB, of which nearly 5000 are infectious.
- An average 2,100 new TB cases are detected every year, of which 50 per cent are sputum positive.
The article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition dated April 20, 2007This article is written with the support of PANOS STOP Media Fellowship
TB kills. We don't even drink water from a house if there is a TB patient living there. What if I get TB after drinking the water?" asked Shidhu Varak, an 18-year-old literate youth from Dhangarwada, Poriem in Sattari. His friend, Dilip Gaonkar from Gholwada, Poriem added, "We don't even get married into a family if we know that anyone in the family had TB. It is a contagious disease and no medicine can ever cure it."
On the other hand, Nago Bhavdan from Corla Moti in Quepem has never heard of TB. His son, a student of standard IX has read about infectious TB and strongly believes that it is incurable. Believe it or not, TB still continues to be a dreaded, incurable disease caused due to a curse or sin in rural Goa. "
TB is not just a public health problem. It is a social problem and the patient is stigmatised and isolated in society. The failure of the health authorities to create awareness about the advances in treatment of TB has added to the woes," said Rajendra Kerkar, a school teacher and grassroots worker in Sattari taluka.
Despite social mobilisation, the TB control programme has not been able to break the myth that TB is contagious nor has been able to spread the message that there are other forms of TB besides pulmonary TB. They have yet to work to improve access to DOTS services in remote areas and overcome stigma of TB and discrimination against TB patients.
"TB is a dirty secret everyone wants to hide. In my village, three men died of TB in the last two years. They didn't take regular medicines and drank alcohol. Whenever I used to go to advise them, they would insult me and ask me who it was that told me that they have TB," revealed an anganwadi worker from a remote village in Sanguem taluka. Under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), modes of observation in villages are often Anganwadi workers who have no access to TB patients, due to the fear that she may spread the news that they have TB in the village and they will be stigmatised.
Further, talking on the condition that she is not quoted, she said, "Most of the people in and around the mining areas have symptoms of pulmonary TB. But they don't go for treatment as they believe that TB is not curable."
"The effort to stop the spread of TB and to ensure a TB free world is curbed by social stigma attached to the disease," admits Dr Bidan Das, State TB Officer, GSTCS. Even Dr Arvind Salelkar, Director of Health Services admits that the effort of changing the mindset of all persons concerned with TB has been a daunting task but yet intensive IEC efforts, training and retraining of staff we have taken a giant leap forward in tackling TB as its very roots.
But official facts are different from field reality. Even as officials at the Goa State Tuberculosis Control Society (GSTCS) demonstrate that DOTS is having its impact and excellent progress has been made with DOTS with case detection and treatment success rates, people in the remote villages in Goa live without easy access to the magic pills.
Anil Sawant was put on DOTS in 2005. Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) is an effective strategy for curing TB, which involves monitoring a patient for six months. The monitoring is crucial because failure to complete the drug treatment can lead to multi-drug resistant TB, which is extremely difficult to cure.
But within three months he stopped the treatment. Reason? "I was feeling better and I couldn't leave my shop and travel every alternate day to go to Hospicio Hospital, Margao, which is 25 kms away from my village for medicines," said Anil Sawant, who runs a tea stall in Dadolem, Sanguem taluka. Recollecting the days of ordeal he says, "I would leave at 6.45 am by bus and return at around 1 pm. This affected my business."
Even his 60-plus mother is suffering from infectious pulmonary TB, but she refuses to go to Margao every alternate day for medicines, which is given free of cost. "She is week but she feels weaker after the travel and therefore has stopped the medicines midway," he added.
Despite World Health Organisation's clear regional strategic plan (2000-2015) to sustain and enhance DOTS to reach all TB patients, improve case detection and ensure treatment success, the patients continue to drop-out of DOTS and nobody no filed visitor visits them to facilitate defaulter retrieval. If the so-called "success" of (RNTCP) is due to its directly observed treatment, then in rural Goa, the directly observed treatment has led to incidents of drop-outs as patients find it difficult to travel miles for treatment.
Worse still is the fact that with the primary health centres and sub-health centres failing to meet the need the health care needs of individuals and families in the community, people are forced to travel long distances to go to the district hospital. ""Earlier we used to go to the Community Health Centre at Savordem, which is 26 kms away from our village. But it doesn't have doctors and adequate equipments. We are made to wait for long hours, only to be sent back without treatment. Due to this we prefer to go to a private doctor," revealed Satyavan Dessai from Sulcorna in Quepem taluka.
Dr Debabar Banerji, Professor Emeritus, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU believes that the problem with RNTCP is that it is not being implemented not being fully implemented. "RNTCP is responsible to create a condition wherein the patients take the pills regularly.
Unless RNTCP ensures that person as a whole is dealt with, it has no meaning," he said. Dr Banerji further added, "There is a group of TB patients who are harassed by poverty and alcoholism. For them TB is a minor problem. The solution lies in solving the major problems of life along with treating TB".
No wonder despite claims of intensification of supervision and monitoring, rigorous record keeping and thorough follow-ups, people like the Sawant's continue to drop-out of the treatment midway.
Free pills, but no food
She doesn't have food to eat but gets the magic pill free of cost. Jani Singadi's was put on DOTS when she was tested sputum positive in January 2006. But the moment, 65-year-old Jani started treatment she felt weaker and had severe stomach ache. Added to that were the multi-layered crisis within the family: three orthopaedically disabled sons, surplus of hunger, no money, an illegal house gifted by a few philanthropists, rising debt, etc.
Unable to deal with the increasing health problems and with no one to take her to the sub-health centre, which is 2 km away at Nanoda, Bicholim, she stopped taking pills for a month. "I couldn't go because I was feeling weak. No field officer ever came to visit me. I started medicines again after sometime when I became seriously ill," she accepts candidly. Now after a year, she is again tested sputum positive at Goa Medical College.
This despite Dr VR Muralidharan, District TB Officer, North Goa claims that we have default retrieval action to retrieve the patient back on track to take medicines. "Our success rate in retrieving patients is very high," he added.
NO TIME FOR HEALTH
For the last three months, Shanti Shetikar has been feeling week. She has had consistent cough since last two months and has lost lot of weight-all symptoms of pulmonary TB. She went to the nearest sub-health centre at Kevona were the doctor gave her iron tablets. But all this has not helped. She has not bothered to go back to the sub-health centre.
"The doctor only comes once a week and that too for an hour. So it's really difficult to meet him. Moreover, we are very poor and no one looks at us in the government hospital. We are made to wait for long hours and then sometimes send back without check-up due to lack of facility. Because of this we prefer to go to a private doctor," she reveals.
So she went to a quack in the village who gave her six vitamin injections stating that she was feeling weak because she was vitamin deficient. However, it has not helped. For long she has been planning to go to for a proper medical check-up at the government hospital in Margao, which is nearly 30 kms away from her mining village in Quinamol, Sanguem, but she has not got time.
"What can I do? Everyday I have to go to the market to sell vegetables. The day I don't go, there is no money at home to feed to two hungry kids," she reveals. Shanti cultivates vegetables and sells them in the market to earn a living.
No tea in TB!
Vithal Parwadkar, who runs a tea stall in at Assnora, Bardez taluka, dilemma is strange. Few villagers have raised objections to him serving tea to "known" TB patients. "People tell me, 'He has TB and you are serving him tea in your stall. We don't want to have tea in the same glass, get us a new set of glasses'," he added.
Strange enough, people are so scared of TB that they have isolated one family in the village because the head of the family died of TB and the rest of the family members are frail and constantly coughing. Vithal reveals that the elder daughter had to be married off to a widower, as no one was ready to marry into the family. GT tried to meet the family, but in vain.
TB kills 1 person every minute in India
-- In Goa, more than 1 person die of TB every month.
- Goa has a high prevalence of tuberculosis as compared to other states
- Annual risk of TB infection is 1.5 % in rest of India, while in the Western region, especially Goa, the risk of TB infection is 1. 9 %
- 20 lakh people in Goa are at present suffering from pulmonary TB, of which nearly 5000 are infectious.
- An average 2,100 new TB cases are detected every year, of which 50 per cent are sputum positive.
The article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition dated April 20, 2007This article is written with the support of PANOS STOP Media Fellowship
No DOT(ted) lines for them…HIV vs TB
Not just homes, but hopes were razed on June 14, 2004. Further pushed into a life of poverty, added with their high risk behaviour, have made commercial sex workers fall easy prey to TB and HIV. PREETU NAIR walks through the narrow lanes of Baina to understand the extent of the problem.When earthmovers and bulldozers tore through, brutally and indiscriminately obliterating Shenaz's home in Baina in the western state of Goa, India on June 14, 2004, she didn't breakdown. She didn't cry even when she had to push her minor daughter into commercial sex work to pay the house rent. After all, she had learnt to tackle poverty and live with the little opportunities and choices that life bestowed on her.
Now, Shenaz is in total despair. She finds herself in a vicious circle of stigma, economic hardship and discrimination, aggravated by the fact that she was detected with TB in February. "Life has changed for me. I have lost weight, feel weak and easily tired," said Shenaz. Being detected with TB and put on DOTS was just the beginning of her woes.
Recalling the happenings of the past few months, Shenaz said that she was asked to take medicines for six months from the local STD clinic at Baina. "I got medicines for a week. Later, when I went to the clinic, I was insulted and denied medicines because there was no doctor or nurse on duty. This went on for more than a week and my condition deteriorated and I had to be hospitalised," she revealed.Shehnaz's first time to the STD clinic was a bitter experience. She says, "I am going to the STD clinic because I get medicines free of cost."
Policy makers claim that the DOTS strategy is based on the availability of free, quality anti-TB drugs for all actively infected patients through the public health network, the reality is quite different. People like Shehnaz are denied easy access to treatment because they belong to a stigmatised group in Baina.
However, officials at the Goa State Tuberculosis Control Society (GSTCS) blame the failing primary health system and shortage of doctors in the health centres for such goof-ups. "At present, there is no doctor at the Baina STD clinic. We are trying to cover up for it with the help of auxiliary workers and they are doing good work, but there is an obvious lack of doctor, which shows," explained Dr VR Muralidharan, District TB Officer, North Goa.
However, Shenaz doesn't understand these arguments. All she knows is that her health deteriorated because she, a single breadwinner, didn't get medicines on time. "It is really difficult times for us. Each time I have fought to rebuild my life. Now I am tired," she added.
OUT OF REACH
Dr Maryam Shahmanesh, Clinical Research Fellow and Clinical epidemiologist for EFA, University College London, reveals that their studies have shown that the forced eviction of Baina has made the women much more mobile than before. "If they had TB it would have been very difficult for them to access DOT services and even more difficult for services and NGOs to find them. An additional factor is that the demolition led to a further erosion of the women's trust towards both public health services as well as NGOs for the Baina women felt let down by these services/agencies," she said.
Although there are no accurate estimates of TB in Baina, Dr Maryam believes that given the high prevalence of HIV amongst the Baina "sex workers" and the higher vulnerability to TB and HIV, it is very likely that the prevalence of TB in the women of Baina would have been much higher than the general population.
Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims in Baina admits that many women in Baina didn't get the benefits of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme because it started in Goa in September 2004, a few months after the Baina demolition. "Now it is also difficult for NGO's to have access to TB patients, as the trafficked victims have spread around. Their behavioural pattern, fear of discrimination and stigma make it difficult for them to come for treatment," said Arun.
NO DATE WITH DOTS
When a physically weak Rupa was taken for a sputum test at the Cottage hospital at Chicalim, she was sent to the TB hospital at Margao. At the TB hospital, she was tested sputum positive. The doctor advised her to be admitted for monitoring. However, the condition placed on her was: She should arrange for someone to stay with her at the hospital.
"Often patients are dumped at the TB hospital for months together because no one is ready to take them back home due to stigma. We wanted to fix responsibility and therefore we insist that someone should accompany the patient to the TB hospital and stay with them. This ensures family support and takes care of patient's needs besides the nursing part," added Dr Muralidharan.
"As no one was ready to stay with me, I made an excuse that my little child was alone at home and as there is no one to look after him, I would prefer to stay at home," she said. The doctors agreed and put her on DOTS. A month later, she went on a date (that's outstation trips for a period of 10 or 15 days for commercial sex work) during which she stopped the treatment. Now back in Goa, she is admitted in the TB hospital, struggling hard to survive.
"When you have the strong medicines to cure TB you need to have nutritious food and vitamin supplements. For this, they have to prostitute and to prostitute they drink alcohol. Alcoholism added with the kind of job they indulge in, ensures that they have no discipline in life. Further they are stressed out, depressed and have suicidal tendencies as they have no expectation from life, so it is difficult to convince them to continue with the medicines", observed Pandey.
Officials at GSTCS admit that dropouts are high amongst these vulnerable sections. "Sometimes they don't reveal their proper address. Neither do they inform us when they go out of station. This is the case with many here. Stopping the medicines abruptly and re-starting has resulted in many cases of drug resistance in Baina," admitted Dr Bidan Das, State TB Officer, GSTCS.
HIV V/S TB
In a late night raid at Baina on July 24, 2006, Laxmi was rescued and produced by the police before the Mormugao Deputy Collector and SDM, who remanded her to protective custody. The next day, the SDM ordered the police to take her to GMC for medical examination, which was delayed.
On July 27, the SDM learned from an NGO that Laxmi was receiving DOTS treatment and she had missed the medicines because she was sent to the State Protective Home at Merces, and immediately passed an order stating that Laxmi be allowed to take any medical treatment. Few days later, the in-charge of Protective Home wrote to the SDM stating that Laxmi has revealed that she has TB and HIV and is bleeding, which is risky for others and there is no medical staff to give her medicines nor any vehicle to transport her to the hospital in case of an emergency.
"With this case I was put in a peculiar situation. Immediate medical check-up is essential under section 15 (5)(A) of ITPA and I had asked for her to be sent for medical check-up. Had we got the reports on time, there wouldn't have been any problem. Further, I was in a fix once the State Protective Home in-charge expressed their inability to keep her and so I had to seek the help of an NGO ASRO," stated SDM Levinson Martins.
Despite the HIV pandemic presenting a massive challenge to the control of TB at all levels, there is no joint effort between various agencies to decrease the burden of TB and HIV especially amongst the vulnerable section and ensure timely treatment. At the moment, the only joint effort in Goa is between Goa State AIDS Control Society and GSTCS, but their role is also very limited.
(Few names have been changed to protect the identities of the individuals)
The article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition dated April 13, 2007This article is written with the support of PANOS STOP Media Fellowship
Now, Shenaz is in total despair. She finds herself in a vicious circle of stigma, economic hardship and discrimination, aggravated by the fact that she was detected with TB in February. "Life has changed for me. I have lost weight, feel weak and easily tired," said Shenaz. Being detected with TB and put on DOTS was just the beginning of her woes.
Recalling the happenings of the past few months, Shenaz said that she was asked to take medicines for six months from the local STD clinic at Baina. "I got medicines for a week. Later, when I went to the clinic, I was insulted and denied medicines because there was no doctor or nurse on duty. This went on for more than a week and my condition deteriorated and I had to be hospitalised," she revealed.Shehnaz's first time to the STD clinic was a bitter experience. She says, "I am going to the STD clinic because I get medicines free of cost."
Policy makers claim that the DOTS strategy is based on the availability of free, quality anti-TB drugs for all actively infected patients through the public health network, the reality is quite different. People like Shehnaz are denied easy access to treatment because they belong to a stigmatised group in Baina.
However, officials at the Goa State Tuberculosis Control Society (GSTCS) blame the failing primary health system and shortage of doctors in the health centres for such goof-ups. "At present, there is no doctor at the Baina STD clinic. We are trying to cover up for it with the help of auxiliary workers and they are doing good work, but there is an obvious lack of doctor, which shows," explained Dr VR Muralidharan, District TB Officer, North Goa.
However, Shenaz doesn't understand these arguments. All she knows is that her health deteriorated because she, a single breadwinner, didn't get medicines on time. "It is really difficult times for us. Each time I have fought to rebuild my life. Now I am tired," she added.
OUT OF REACH
Dr Maryam Shahmanesh, Clinical Research Fellow and Clinical epidemiologist for EFA, University College London, reveals that their studies have shown that the forced eviction of Baina has made the women much more mobile than before. "If they had TB it would have been very difficult for them to access DOT services and even more difficult for services and NGOs to find them. An additional factor is that the demolition led to a further erosion of the women's trust towards both public health services as well as NGOs for the Baina women felt let down by these services/agencies," she said.
Although there are no accurate estimates of TB in Baina, Dr Maryam believes that given the high prevalence of HIV amongst the Baina "sex workers" and the higher vulnerability to TB and HIV, it is very likely that the prevalence of TB in the women of Baina would have been much higher than the general population.
Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims in Baina admits that many women in Baina didn't get the benefits of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme because it started in Goa in September 2004, a few months after the Baina demolition. "Now it is also difficult for NGO's to have access to TB patients, as the trafficked victims have spread around. Their behavioural pattern, fear of discrimination and stigma make it difficult for them to come for treatment," said Arun.
NO DATE WITH DOTS
When a physically weak Rupa was taken for a sputum test at the Cottage hospital at Chicalim, she was sent to the TB hospital at Margao. At the TB hospital, she was tested sputum positive. The doctor advised her to be admitted for monitoring. However, the condition placed on her was: She should arrange for someone to stay with her at the hospital.
"Often patients are dumped at the TB hospital for months together because no one is ready to take them back home due to stigma. We wanted to fix responsibility and therefore we insist that someone should accompany the patient to the TB hospital and stay with them. This ensures family support and takes care of patient's needs besides the nursing part," added Dr Muralidharan.
"As no one was ready to stay with me, I made an excuse that my little child was alone at home and as there is no one to look after him, I would prefer to stay at home," she said. The doctors agreed and put her on DOTS. A month later, she went on a date (that's outstation trips for a period of 10 or 15 days for commercial sex work) during which she stopped the treatment. Now back in Goa, she is admitted in the TB hospital, struggling hard to survive.
"When you have the strong medicines to cure TB you need to have nutritious food and vitamin supplements. For this, they have to prostitute and to prostitute they drink alcohol. Alcoholism added with the kind of job they indulge in, ensures that they have no discipline in life. Further they are stressed out, depressed and have suicidal tendencies as they have no expectation from life, so it is difficult to convince them to continue with the medicines", observed Pandey.
Officials at GSTCS admit that dropouts are high amongst these vulnerable sections. "Sometimes they don't reveal their proper address. Neither do they inform us when they go out of station. This is the case with many here. Stopping the medicines abruptly and re-starting has resulted in many cases of drug resistance in Baina," admitted Dr Bidan Das, State TB Officer, GSTCS.
HIV V/S TB
In a late night raid at Baina on July 24, 2006, Laxmi was rescued and produced by the police before the Mormugao Deputy Collector and SDM, who remanded her to protective custody. The next day, the SDM ordered the police to take her to GMC for medical examination, which was delayed.
On July 27, the SDM learned from an NGO that Laxmi was receiving DOTS treatment and she had missed the medicines because she was sent to the State Protective Home at Merces, and immediately passed an order stating that Laxmi be allowed to take any medical treatment. Few days later, the in-charge of Protective Home wrote to the SDM stating that Laxmi has revealed that she has TB and HIV and is bleeding, which is risky for others and there is no medical staff to give her medicines nor any vehicle to transport her to the hospital in case of an emergency.
"With this case I was put in a peculiar situation. Immediate medical check-up is essential under section 15 (5)(A) of ITPA and I had asked for her to be sent for medical check-up. Had we got the reports on time, there wouldn't have been any problem. Further, I was in a fix once the State Protective Home in-charge expressed their inability to keep her and so I had to seek the help of an NGO ASRO," stated SDM Levinson Martins.
Despite the HIV pandemic presenting a massive challenge to the control of TB at all levels, there is no joint effort between various agencies to decrease the burden of TB and HIV especially amongst the vulnerable section and ensure timely treatment. At the moment, the only joint effort in Goa is between Goa State AIDS Control Society and GSTCS, but their role is also very limited.
(Few names have been changed to protect the identities of the individuals)
The article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition dated April 13, 2007This article is written with the support of PANOS STOP Media Fellowship
Saturday, April 07, 2007
CURBING IGNORANCE- TUBERCULOSIS IN GOA
Incidentally, has a high prevalence of tuberculosis as compared to other states. “The annual risk of TB infection is 1.5 per cent in rest of , while in the Western region, especially , the risk of TB infection is 1. 9 per cent,” revealed Dr VR Muralidharan, District TB Officer, . Yet, reliable sources in the Health Services department inform that not much attention has been paid by the health authorities to eradicate the disease.
It is estimated that 20 lakh people in are at present suffering from pulmonary TB, of which nearly 5000 are infectious. An average 2,100 new TB cases are detected every year, of which 50 per cent are sputum positive.
“In terms of numbers, the number of sputum cases that are investigated has increased. We are now getting cases from the remote areas even without holding medical camps or door-to-door medical check-ups. This shows that people are becoming more and more aware of the possibility of them having TB,” said Dr Muralidharan. He however added, “The stigma about TB has now come down considerably. It now exists only amongst the migrant or illiterate people.”
Better late than never?
Blame it on administrative failure or lack of political will, but RNTCP was started in on September 13, 2004, nearly 11 years after the programme was launched nationwide. But now, the state government is trying to make up for the delay and has pledged to detect 70 per cent of all infectious TB cases and cure 85 per cent of them by the end of 2007. However, few government doctors are not so optimistic. “Once you start later, its always a question of catching up because its an on-going process and the number of cases keep coming up,” said a doctor, on condition of anonymity. Still worse, the District TB Hospitals are terribly short staffed.
But officials at the Goa State Tuberculosis Control Society (GSTCS) insist that efforts are being made to catch up with lost time and ensure that each and every TB patient gets the required treatment, on time. They are working hard to connect with the villages and communities to sensitise people that TB is no more a dreaded disease and is curable.
Women matter
Though 30-year- old Sunita from Valpoi was literate, her ignorance about TB was immense. She didn’t know that TB is curable and the treatment for TB is absolutely free. Worse still, for her, TB meant a disease in which a person ended up in some sanatorium, rejected and isolated by the family.
To get across the message that TB is curable and treatment is free of cost for women, the “hidden section” of the society, GSTCS has now approached the mahila mandals and women’s self-help groups with the aim to ensure that women have access to adequate and important information.
“Women in rural areas don’t have a dominant voice in the family and due to this, they fear that if detected with TB, they may be isolated or rejected by family members,” explained Dr Muralidharan. Interestingly, now GSTCS has also started sensitising school kids about TB, because they believe that children are the best disseminators of information.
Partnerships
Coming to the nearest health centre for his DOTS treatment everyday, meant that Ramesh from Torda, near Porvorim, would lose his daily wage of Rs 150. To make certain that Ramesh had his daily dose of medicines, GSTCS entered into a tie-up with the private JMJ hospital, to become a Directly Observed Treatment, short course (DOTS) provider. A DOTS provider has to ensure that the patients swallow the medicines under their direct supervision. DOTS prevents the spread of TB bacilli, thus reducing the incidence and prevalence of TB and providing credence to TB control efforts. End result: he is now cured.
With the increasing realisation that a sub-health centre may not be able to reach people at the micro-level and to ensure that the patient doesn’t default, the focus has now shifted to anganwadi workers all the talukas of . Moreover, they have easy access to women and children. Already, 700-800 anganwadi workers have been sensitised in a majority of the talukas.
Panch power!
Imagine, an ambitious panch member as a DOTS provider. Sounds impossible? Well, it is possible in . When 20-year-old Sneha in Cumbarjua was tested sputum positive, she was to be put on DOTS. But Sneha was not interested in going to the nearest health centre for her dose of medicine because she had to work from 7 am to 7 pm to ensure that her elderly parents get a decent meal.
Enter a panch member who became a DOTS provider. He would visit her with the medicines after she returned from work and ensured that she had her treatment. Subhash Gawde, a former panch member at Madkai, agrees that the panch members should involve themselves in such community services as it reduces stigma and ensures that TB patients get timely treatment. “TB is curable and the treatment is absolutely free of cost. So one no more needs to be scared of the disease,” added Gawde, whose come forward to become a DOTS provider from Madkai. Inspired by his response, GSTCS now aims to sensitise and train the panchayat members.
(Some names have been changed to protect identities)
The article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition dated April 6, 2007
It is estimated that 20 lakh people in are at present suffering from pulmonary TB, of which nearly 5000 are infectious. An average 2,100 new TB cases are detected every year, of which 50 per cent are sputum positive.
“In terms of numbers, the number of sputum cases that are investigated has increased. We are now getting cases from the remote areas even without holding medical camps or door-to-door medical check-ups. This shows that people are becoming more and more aware of the possibility of them having TB,” said Dr Muralidharan. He however added, “The stigma about TB has now come down considerably. It now exists only amongst the migrant or illiterate people.”
Better late than never?
Blame it on administrative failure or lack of political will, but RNTCP was started in on September 13, 2004, nearly 11 years after the programme was launched nationwide. But now, the state government is trying to make up for the delay and has pledged to detect 70 per cent of all infectious TB cases and cure 85 per cent of them by the end of 2007. However, few government doctors are not so optimistic. “Once you start later, its always a question of catching up because its an on-going process and the number of cases keep coming up,” said a doctor, on condition of anonymity. Still worse, the District TB Hospitals are terribly short staffed.
But officials at the Goa State Tuberculosis Control Society (GSTCS) insist that efforts are being made to catch up with lost time and ensure that each and every TB patient gets the required treatment, on time. They are working hard to connect with the villages and communities to sensitise people that TB is no more a dreaded disease and is curable.
Women matter
Though 30-year- old Sunita from Valpoi was literate, her ignorance about TB was immense. She didn’t know that TB is curable and the treatment for TB is absolutely free. Worse still, for her, TB meant a disease in which a person ended up in some sanatorium, rejected and isolated by the family.
To get across the message that TB is curable and treatment is free of cost for women, the “hidden section” of the society, GSTCS has now approached the mahila mandals and women’s self-help groups with the aim to ensure that women have access to adequate and important information.
“Women in rural areas don’t have a dominant voice in the family and due to this, they fear that if detected with TB, they may be isolated or rejected by family members,” explained Dr Muralidharan. Interestingly, now GSTCS has also started sensitising school kids about TB, because they believe that children are the best disseminators of information.
Partnerships
Coming to the nearest health centre for his DOTS treatment everyday, meant that Ramesh from Torda, near Porvorim, would lose his daily wage of Rs 150. To make certain that Ramesh had his daily dose of medicines, GSTCS entered into a tie-up with the private JMJ hospital, to become a Directly Observed Treatment, short course (DOTS) provider. A DOTS provider has to ensure that the patients swallow the medicines under their direct supervision. DOTS prevents the spread of TB bacilli, thus reducing the incidence and prevalence of TB and providing credence to TB control efforts. End result: he is now cured.
With the increasing realisation that a sub-health centre may not be able to reach people at the micro-level and to ensure that the patient doesn’t default, the focus has now shifted to anganwadi workers all the talukas of . Moreover, they have easy access to women and children. Already, 700-800 anganwadi workers have been sensitised in a majority of the talukas.
Panch power!
Imagine, an ambitious panch member as a DOTS provider. Sounds impossible? Well, it is possible in . When 20-year-old Sneha in Cumbarjua was tested sputum positive, she was to be put on DOTS. But Sneha was not interested in going to the nearest health centre for her dose of medicine because she had to work from 7 am to 7 pm to ensure that her elderly parents get a decent meal.
Enter a panch member who became a DOTS provider. He would visit her with the medicines after she returned from work and ensured that she had her treatment. Subhash Gawde, a former panch member at Madkai, agrees that the panch members should involve themselves in such community services as it reduces stigma and ensures that TB patients get timely treatment. “TB is curable and the treatment is absolutely free of cost. So one no more needs to be scared of the disease,” added Gawde, whose come forward to become a DOTS provider from Madkai. Inspired by his response, GSTCS now aims to sensitise and train the panchayat members.
(Some names have been changed to protect identities)
The article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition dated April 6, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
FROM BANGLADESH TO GOA: A HELPLESS SEX VICTIM’S SAGA
FROM BANGLADESH TO GOA: A HELPLESS SEX VICTIM’S SAGA
What happens in the terribly painful life of a child-trafficking victim? What are the horrors she has to go through beginning with a late night border crossing to regular rape by clients? PETER D’SOUZA and PREETU NAIR investigate further and piece together a 16-year-old girl’s nightmare that ended with her returning home last week. This is a true story.
PANAJI: It is a story of extraordinary pain! A poverty-stricken Bangladeshi family is approached by an apparently well-meaning woman, who offers their daughter a lucrative job with the promise of a fortune. That was the innocuous beginning to an eight-month nightmare that had all the elements of deceit, hatred, lucre and lust.
When Parvin (one of the three women) first visited their home in a village in Coomilla district, which is almost eight hours drive from Dhaka, the 16-year-old Mumtaz (name changed) saw a ray of hope for the family because Parvin came with a promise of a job in a steel factory in Gulf. But there was a hitch! Parvin wanted to take her elder sister. But standard VIII student, Mumtaz convinced her parents and Parvin that she was the perfect choice for the job.
After initial resentment, her father, a retired textile worker and her mother, a housewife agreed, not knowing that their little daughter’s life would soon become a living hell. In fact, they even shelled out Rs 60,000 (Bangladeshi Taka) to Parvin, out of which Rs 50,000 was taken as a loan and the rest was kept aside to carry out work in the field.
On November 23, 2004 Mumtaz was brought in from Bangladesh to India via Kolkatta along with two other girls. In Kolkatta, they were given a different name and identity and taken to Mumbai, where she met Rekha and Arti, the two other accused, and to Ahmedabad, where she was first forced into prostitution. Says a Child Welfare Committee (CWC) source, “When Mumtaz refused to please a man, the women held Mumtaz’s limbs, while the drunken man raped her.”
Within two days, she was brought back to Mumbai in a battered state. She refused to talk or eat and demanded to talk to her father. Back again she was sent with Arti to Ahmedabad, where she managed to stealthily inform her father on phone about her plight. But she was soon caught and punished.
“You will have to earn money for me now”, said Arti beating her. She was soon sent to Gandhidham, in Gujarat, where the broker’s wife rescued her and gave her protection.
Meanwhile, Mumtaz’s father along with few other people lodged a complaint against Parvin.
Soon she left Gandhidham to go to Bangladesh, but was caught at Borivali station by Rekha. They threatened her with dire consequences, but when she continued with her plea to return to Bangladesh, Rekha said, “You go to Goa and work as waitress in ladies night bar and you will be paid Rs 15,000. With the money you can return home.”
Left with no option, she agreed and arrived in Goa in April this year along with Rekha, where she met Prabha, the sex racket’s Queen Bee. At first, she refused to work, but soon she was warned, “If you don’t work, you won’t be able to go home.” And the first day, she was sent to “work” she was caught by the Pernem police, who took her to Apna Ghar saying that they had found her at the Pernem railway station, and that she had run away from home with her boyfriend.
Ironically, Vishram Borkar, SP, Crime Branch in a press conference soon after they nabbed the three women – Parvin, Arti and Rekha -- had stated that the matter first came to light in mid-April when three boys and a girl checked into a hotel in North Goa. The staff at the hotel suspected something amiss and informed the police. The three boys however managed to escape from the hotel leaving behind the teenager who was taken into custody by the police and then sent to Apna Ghar. From here, she was admitted at Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa as she was under immense stress.
At Apna Ghar, Parvin came to visit her on the pretext that she is her sister and wanted to take her home. One day, she came with a letter from the Pernem police dated 13 June, 2005 asking the CWC to hand over the girl to Parvin, revealed a CWC member.
But when GT contacted Pernem police, PI Sagar Ekosker informed that he must have sent a letter since Tara Kerkar had come to them claiming that the girl’s parents have come to collect her and hence she wanted a release letter from them. PI Ekosker said, “Since I knew Tara well and the girl’s parents had come to collect her, I had no objections whatsoever of the girl going with her parents. At that time, we didn’t know about the sex racket”.
Once the counsellors at Apna Ghar won the victim’s trust, she revealed everything. Meanwhile, CWC got in touch with the High Commission of Bangladesh, New Delhi, a Delhi based NGO STOP (Stop Trafficking and Oppression of Child and Women) as well as a Bangladeshi NGO, Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyers Association. At that time, the CWC informed Vishram Borkar, SP, Crime Branch that they were in touch with the High Commission of Bangladesh to repatriate the girl. “But he laughed it off saying that High Commission of Bangladesh doesn’t have money to take back the girl,” informed CWC chairperson, Dr Damodar Kunkoliekar.
But Borkar reiterated that no one has contacted him nor there was any document to prove it.
The girl was sent along with Roma Debabrata, President, STOP to Delhi on 24 July and from there she was taken to Bangladesh on 25 July. Confirming this, Debabrata told GT over the phone, “I was contacted by the High Commission of Bangladesh and when I came to know that the child is in a bad shape, as she was abused physically and mentally, I thought that it was in the best interest of the child to send her home to her parents in Bangladesh”. She was permitted to do so by the CWC members and so the minor girl was sent home.
When GT contacted Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyers Association, they said that the girl was safe at home in Bangladesh.
Goa Police: A story of contradictions
As the picture of the girl’s repatriation with a “person” from the Bangladeshi embassy became clearer, the Goa police’s role in the whole episode is getting murkier. Worse still, contradictions galore pour forth from the senior police officials!
ON DJ AGNELO
DYSP CRIME BRANCH Bossuet D’Silva
“DJ Agnelo was getting a hefty sum from Prabha and asked them to leave when something fishy was going on”.
DIG Ujjwal Mishra
“He had sub-let the house to someone who in turn let it out to Prabha. So DJ Agnelo is nowhere in the sex racket.”
SP Vishram Borkar, Crime Branch
“DJ Agnelo’s house is a guest house. And therefore the need to register Prabha and others for staying at the guesthouse didn’t arise. Agnelo is nowhere involved in the case.”
Flesh trader Parvin is wanted in Bangladesh. A case has been filed under the 5 (1) provision of Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 (amended in 2003) for which the proceedings have started in Bangladesh.
What happens in the terribly painful life of a child-trafficking victim? What are the horrors she has to go through beginning with a late night border crossing to regular rape by clients? PETER D’SOUZA and PREETU NAIR investigate further and piece together a 16-year-old girl’s nightmare that ended with her returning home last week. This is a true story.
PANAJI: It is a story of extraordinary pain! A poverty-stricken Bangladeshi family is approached by an apparently well-meaning woman, who offers their daughter a lucrative job with the promise of a fortune. That was the innocuous beginning to an eight-month nightmare that had all the elements of deceit, hatred, lucre and lust.
When Parvin (one of the three women) first visited their home in a village in Coomilla district, which is almost eight hours drive from Dhaka, the 16-year-old Mumtaz (name changed) saw a ray of hope for the family because Parvin came with a promise of a job in a steel factory in Gulf. But there was a hitch! Parvin wanted to take her elder sister. But standard VIII student, Mumtaz convinced her parents and Parvin that she was the perfect choice for the job.
After initial resentment, her father, a retired textile worker and her mother, a housewife agreed, not knowing that their little daughter’s life would soon become a living hell. In fact, they even shelled out Rs 60,000 (Bangladeshi Taka) to Parvin, out of which Rs 50,000 was taken as a loan and the rest was kept aside to carry out work in the field.
On November 23, 2004 Mumtaz was brought in from Bangladesh to India via Kolkatta along with two other girls. In Kolkatta, they were given a different name and identity and taken to Mumbai, where she met Rekha and Arti, the two other accused, and to Ahmedabad, where she was first forced into prostitution. Says a Child Welfare Committee (CWC) source, “When Mumtaz refused to please a man, the women held Mumtaz’s limbs, while the drunken man raped her.”
Within two days, she was brought back to Mumbai in a battered state. She refused to talk or eat and demanded to talk to her father. Back again she was sent with Arti to Ahmedabad, where she managed to stealthily inform her father on phone about her plight. But she was soon caught and punished.
“You will have to earn money for me now”, said Arti beating her. She was soon sent to Gandhidham, in Gujarat, where the broker’s wife rescued her and gave her protection.
Meanwhile, Mumtaz’s father along with few other people lodged a complaint against Parvin.
Soon she left Gandhidham to go to Bangladesh, but was caught at Borivali station by Rekha. They threatened her with dire consequences, but when she continued with her plea to return to Bangladesh, Rekha said, “You go to Goa and work as waitress in ladies night bar and you will be paid Rs 15,000. With the money you can return home.”
Left with no option, she agreed and arrived in Goa in April this year along with Rekha, where she met Prabha, the sex racket’s Queen Bee. At first, she refused to work, but soon she was warned, “If you don’t work, you won’t be able to go home.” And the first day, she was sent to “work” she was caught by the Pernem police, who took her to Apna Ghar saying that they had found her at the Pernem railway station, and that she had run away from home with her boyfriend.
Ironically, Vishram Borkar, SP, Crime Branch in a press conference soon after they nabbed the three women – Parvin, Arti and Rekha -- had stated that the matter first came to light in mid-April when three boys and a girl checked into a hotel in North Goa. The staff at the hotel suspected something amiss and informed the police. The three boys however managed to escape from the hotel leaving behind the teenager who was taken into custody by the police and then sent to Apna Ghar. From here, she was admitted at Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa as she was under immense stress.
At Apna Ghar, Parvin came to visit her on the pretext that she is her sister and wanted to take her home. One day, she came with a letter from the Pernem police dated 13 June, 2005 asking the CWC to hand over the girl to Parvin, revealed a CWC member.
But when GT contacted Pernem police, PI Sagar Ekosker informed that he must have sent a letter since Tara Kerkar had come to them claiming that the girl’s parents have come to collect her and hence she wanted a release letter from them. PI Ekosker said, “Since I knew Tara well and the girl’s parents had come to collect her, I had no objections whatsoever of the girl going with her parents. At that time, we didn’t know about the sex racket”.
Once the counsellors at Apna Ghar won the victim’s trust, she revealed everything. Meanwhile, CWC got in touch with the High Commission of Bangladesh, New Delhi, a Delhi based NGO STOP (Stop Trafficking and Oppression of Child and Women) as well as a Bangladeshi NGO, Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyers Association. At that time, the CWC informed Vishram Borkar, SP, Crime Branch that they were in touch with the High Commission of Bangladesh to repatriate the girl. “But he laughed it off saying that High Commission of Bangladesh doesn’t have money to take back the girl,” informed CWC chairperson, Dr Damodar Kunkoliekar.
But Borkar reiterated that no one has contacted him nor there was any document to prove it.
The girl was sent along with Roma Debabrata, President, STOP to Delhi on 24 July and from there she was taken to Bangladesh on 25 July. Confirming this, Debabrata told GT over the phone, “I was contacted by the High Commission of Bangladesh and when I came to know that the child is in a bad shape, as she was abused physically and mentally, I thought that it was in the best interest of the child to send her home to her parents in Bangladesh”. She was permitted to do so by the CWC members and so the minor girl was sent home.
When GT contacted Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyers Association, they said that the girl was safe at home in Bangladesh.
Goa Police: A story of contradictions
As the picture of the girl’s repatriation with a “person” from the Bangladeshi embassy became clearer, the Goa police’s role in the whole episode is getting murkier. Worse still, contradictions galore pour forth from the senior police officials!
ON DJ AGNELO
DYSP CRIME BRANCH Bossuet D’Silva
“DJ Agnelo was getting a hefty sum from Prabha and asked them to leave when something fishy was going on”.
DIG Ujjwal Mishra
“He had sub-let the house to someone who in turn let it out to Prabha. So DJ Agnelo is nowhere in the sex racket.”
SP Vishram Borkar, Crime Branch
“DJ Agnelo’s house is a guest house. And therefore the need to register Prabha and others for staying at the guesthouse didn’t arise. Agnelo is nowhere involved in the case.”
Flesh trader Parvin is wanted in Bangladesh. A case has been filed under the 5 (1) provision of Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 (amended in 2003) for which the proceedings have started in Bangladesh.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Is Goa really a paedophiles paradise?
Is Goa really a paedophiles paradise? PREETU NAIR spoke to Women and Child Minister SUBHASH SHIRODKAR and Children's Rights in Goa president NISHTHA DESAI to know the truth. While Desai believes that there are 'not less than 100' paedophiles operating in Goa, Shirodkar asks where is the data to prove this?
“Tracking paedophiles is not an NGO’s job but of investigating agencies”: Desai.
Interview with Nishta Desai, President , Children’s Rights Goa (CRG), INDIA
Q. In your book See the Evil you state, "there are not less than 'hundreds' of paedophiles operating in Goa in each tourist season". How do you arrive at this figure?
A. It is 'not less than 100'. This estimate was arrived at on the basis of a survey conducted; work in the field, cases reported to us, what community members say etc.
Q. In your recent book Child Sexual Abuse in Goa, you state that many paedophiles still come to Goa. With this knowledge in hand, what are you doing to track down the paedophiles?
A. CRG is primarily involved in prevention of CSA. For this we strive to empower children to protect themselves through our interaction with children. Our campaign against paedophilia and advocacy measures engages the community and the authorities, respectively. Apart from this, when we receive complaints, we verify details of the complaint and inform the police. We have said that when there has been grave suspicion against a travelling sex offender and for various reasons he/she has not been prosecuted, then such persons should be denied visas - as in the cases of Ernie Jean Francois, Allan Dow, John Middleton, Jorg Harry Ringelmann, etc. Tracking paedophiles is not the job of an NGO. We have neither the resources nor the authority to do it. This is the job of the investigating agencies.
Q. How many foreign paedophiles operate in Goa? And how does this "organised and already fairly institutionalised" network work in Goa?
A. I do not have a head count of paedophiles, only an estimate. My book See the Evil will answer this question.
Q. Women and Child Minister Subhash Shirodkar in a recent interview to BBC world service said that the issue of paedophilia is a little hyped and added, "NGOs are not complaining to me. What prevents them, when every week and every month, they meet me?" Have the NGO's working with children failed to report the facts to the Minister in their urge to partner with the state to make child friendly policies?
A. I agree that the issue of paedophilia is hyped and have said so in various interviews, but significantly, media persons have failed to quote me on this. I have also said that this is NOT a Goa-specific problem but a problem that is prevalent in all major tourist destinations, which is also rarely quoted.
With regard to political will, it has to be seen in perspective. There was a time when there was outright denial on the part of the state that tourism related paedophilia in Goa was an issue. Today, it is acknowledged. What is required now is to invoke the provisions in Goa Children's Act, 2003. For this we are working with the government, police, prosecution machinery, medico-legal fraternity and the community. Striving for child friendly policies has consistently been our endeavour. To have effective child protection mechanisms in place, it is essential for NGOs to work in partnership with government.
Q. Why has there been no conviction of paedophiles in the recent past? Besides the failure of the state machinery, doesn't it also show the failure of NGOs working with children?
A. From the last two cases that came before the Children's Court we learnt that there is the need for a witness protection programme to prevent witnesses turning hostile. This could be partly achieved by setting up of a Victims Assistance Unit. Having said this, every agency has a role to play in child protection. For example, when the media has reported cases of offenders operating, NGOs have asked the media to share information so that steps can be taken against the perpetrator, but the media hasn't always cooperated. I think when it comes to child protection we all need to think of how we can be more effective in what we do. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
“It is NGOs duty to ensure that the problem is totally eradicated”: Shirodkar
Interview with Mr Subhash Shirodkar, Minister - Women and Child Department, Government of Goa, INDIA.
Q. Why do you say that the issue of paedophilia is a little hyped up in Goa?
A. Unless and until I see or hear about the cases of paedophilia and get it confirmed, why should I believe it? It is my nature, that I don’t believe anything –good or bad—just by hearsay. Moreover, where is the data to prove the claim? Of course, I have verified with the police department and there are few cases but they are not just cases of paedophilia.
Q. NGOs have been vocal about the problems of CSA to the press. It is surprising that they have never complained to you. Comment.
A. It is been 19 months since I took over as the Women and Child minister. No one has come and reported to me about a child or girl who is being exploited. If the traffickers and trafficked victims are operating in Goa, then they won’t just run away. They would be definitely operating repeatedly at the same spot. If the NGO’s have spotted such things they should come and tell me. I am always open to it. I can depute my people and also inform the police.
Q. Are you scared that if the government takes up the problem of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in a forthright manner, then the state could loose tourist revenue?
A. At what cost? At the cost of our own children! I shall be the last person to consider such an economic or financial statement that if we investigate we would loose tourist revenue.
Q. If you believe that CSA is not at all a problem in the state, then why did you encourage NGO's to have consultations, meetings and workshops with Women and Child department officials?
A. To deal with problems of CSA and other problems of street children and commercial sexual exploitation we promote the NGOs. The problem has to be nipped in the bud to ensure a safe future for our children. This is the reason why we encourage the NGOs. NGOs need to be there. But I wouldn’t like to comment on the workshops and conferences carried out by the NGOs. I leave it to their judicious mind, for it is they who have to define what they want to do and accordingly function: just have workshops and conferences or really work.
Q. How would you define the role of an NGO? Does NGOs involved in prevention of CSA have an important role to play in tracking the abusers?
A. If at all they are an NGO with the principal of eradication of a problem (not just the problem of CSA), then it is their genuine duty to ensure that the problem is uprooted in its totality. Just to track a problem and then leave it to destiny, that’s not the way an NGO should function. What they start they should take it to the finish. It doesn’t matter if they identify one or two cases for it will expose what they call an “organised network which is institutionalized”. If the NGOs investigate properly with the help of investigating authorities then the “organised network which is institutionalized” will be exposed and the message will go across the society that CSA won’t tolerated in Goa.
Q. Do you agree with the manner in which NGO's go about formulating policies to combat CSA and trafficking without proper study?
A. For the first time I am hearing that CSA in Goa is an “organised network which is institutionalized”. This argument is not true. I don’t say that just for the sake of saying, I mean it. We are encouraging policies to combat trafficking of persons to ensure that the problem is nipped in the bud. If we don’t bother about the issue and leave it to destiny then problems may arise. That shouldn’t happen. We want to ensure that Goa becomes a perfect child friendly state.
Q. Has Goa Children’s Act ensured justice to all children who are victims of sexual abuse?
A. No. There is still much to be done. Awareness amongst people and alertness amongst young generation has to be made. For the same we have set up the State Commission for Children. Moreover, Women and Child department will tie up with Education department to spread awareness about rights and duties of children.
“Tracking paedophiles is not an NGO’s job but of investigating agencies”: Desai.
Interview with Nishta Desai, President , Children’s Rights Goa (CRG), INDIA
Q. In your book See the Evil you state, "there are not less than 'hundreds' of paedophiles operating in Goa in each tourist season". How do you arrive at this figure?
A. It is 'not less than 100'. This estimate was arrived at on the basis of a survey conducted; work in the field, cases reported to us, what community members say etc.
Q. In your recent book Child Sexual Abuse in Goa, you state that many paedophiles still come to Goa. With this knowledge in hand, what are you doing to track down the paedophiles?
A. CRG is primarily involved in prevention of CSA. For this we strive to empower children to protect themselves through our interaction with children. Our campaign against paedophilia and advocacy measures engages the community and the authorities, respectively. Apart from this, when we receive complaints, we verify details of the complaint and inform the police. We have said that when there has been grave suspicion against a travelling sex offender and for various reasons he/she has not been prosecuted, then such persons should be denied visas - as in the cases of Ernie Jean Francois, Allan Dow, John Middleton, Jorg Harry Ringelmann, etc. Tracking paedophiles is not the job of an NGO. We have neither the resources nor the authority to do it. This is the job of the investigating agencies.
Q. How many foreign paedophiles operate in Goa? And how does this "organised and already fairly institutionalised" network work in Goa?
A. I do not have a head count of paedophiles, only an estimate. My book See the Evil will answer this question.
Q. Women and Child Minister Subhash Shirodkar in a recent interview to BBC world service said that the issue of paedophilia is a little hyped and added, "NGOs are not complaining to me. What prevents them, when every week and every month, they meet me?" Have the NGO's working with children failed to report the facts to the Minister in their urge to partner with the state to make child friendly policies?
A. I agree that the issue of paedophilia is hyped and have said so in various interviews, but significantly, media persons have failed to quote me on this. I have also said that this is NOT a Goa-specific problem but a problem that is prevalent in all major tourist destinations, which is also rarely quoted.
With regard to political will, it has to be seen in perspective. There was a time when there was outright denial on the part of the state that tourism related paedophilia in Goa was an issue. Today, it is acknowledged. What is required now is to invoke the provisions in Goa Children's Act, 2003. For this we are working with the government, police, prosecution machinery, medico-legal fraternity and the community. Striving for child friendly policies has consistently been our endeavour. To have effective child protection mechanisms in place, it is essential for NGOs to work in partnership with government.
Q. Why has there been no conviction of paedophiles in the recent past? Besides the failure of the state machinery, doesn't it also show the failure of NGOs working with children?
A. From the last two cases that came before the Children's Court we learnt that there is the need for a witness protection programme to prevent witnesses turning hostile. This could be partly achieved by setting up of a Victims Assistance Unit. Having said this, every agency has a role to play in child protection. For example, when the media has reported cases of offenders operating, NGOs have asked the media to share information so that steps can be taken against the perpetrator, but the media hasn't always cooperated. I think when it comes to child protection we all need to think of how we can be more effective in what we do. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
“It is NGOs duty to ensure that the problem is totally eradicated”: Shirodkar
Interview with Mr Subhash Shirodkar, Minister - Women and Child Department, Government of Goa, INDIA.
Q. Why do you say that the issue of paedophilia is a little hyped up in Goa?
A. Unless and until I see or hear about the cases of paedophilia and get it confirmed, why should I believe it? It is my nature, that I don’t believe anything –good or bad—just by hearsay. Moreover, where is the data to prove the claim? Of course, I have verified with the police department and there are few cases but they are not just cases of paedophilia.
Q. NGOs have been vocal about the problems of CSA to the press. It is surprising that they have never complained to you. Comment.
A. It is been 19 months since I took over as the Women and Child minister. No one has come and reported to me about a child or girl who is being exploited. If the traffickers and trafficked victims are operating in Goa, then they won’t just run away. They would be definitely operating repeatedly at the same spot. If the NGO’s have spotted such things they should come and tell me. I am always open to it. I can depute my people and also inform the police.
Q. Are you scared that if the government takes up the problem of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in a forthright manner, then the state could loose tourist revenue?
A. At what cost? At the cost of our own children! I shall be the last person to consider such an economic or financial statement that if we investigate we would loose tourist revenue.
Q. If you believe that CSA is not at all a problem in the state, then why did you encourage NGO's to have consultations, meetings and workshops with Women and Child department officials?
A. To deal with problems of CSA and other problems of street children and commercial sexual exploitation we promote the NGOs. The problem has to be nipped in the bud to ensure a safe future for our children. This is the reason why we encourage the NGOs. NGOs need to be there. But I wouldn’t like to comment on the workshops and conferences carried out by the NGOs. I leave it to their judicious mind, for it is they who have to define what they want to do and accordingly function: just have workshops and conferences or really work.
Q. How would you define the role of an NGO? Does NGOs involved in prevention of CSA have an important role to play in tracking the abusers?
A. If at all they are an NGO with the principal of eradication of a problem (not just the problem of CSA), then it is their genuine duty to ensure that the problem is uprooted in its totality. Just to track a problem and then leave it to destiny, that’s not the way an NGO should function. What they start they should take it to the finish. It doesn’t matter if they identify one or two cases for it will expose what they call an “organised network which is institutionalized”. If the NGOs investigate properly with the help of investigating authorities then the “organised network which is institutionalized” will be exposed and the message will go across the society that CSA won’t tolerated in Goa.
Q. Do you agree with the manner in which NGO's go about formulating policies to combat CSA and trafficking without proper study?
A. For the first time I am hearing that CSA in Goa is an “organised network which is institutionalized”. This argument is not true. I don’t say that just for the sake of saying, I mean it. We are encouraging policies to combat trafficking of persons to ensure that the problem is nipped in the bud. If we don’t bother about the issue and leave it to destiny then problems may arise. That shouldn’t happen. We want to ensure that Goa becomes a perfect child friendly state.
Q. Has Goa Children’s Act ensured justice to all children who are victims of sexual abuse?
A. No. There is still much to be done. Awareness amongst people and alertness amongst young generation has to be made. For the same we have set up the State Commission for Children. Moreover, Women and Child department will tie up with Education department to spread awareness about rights and duties of children.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Trafficking comparitively low in Goa: Dr PM Nair
Trafficking comparitively low in Goa: Dr PM Nair
Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Goa Edition, India
Goa is considered to have the highest levels of inter-state
trafficking of persons compared to other states, thanks to an NHRC
study. The man behind the report was an IPS officer Dr PM Nair, who
was the Principal investigator-Researcher for the project and the
present Project Coordinator of Anti Human Trafficking, UNODC, which is
training Goa police. PREETU NAIR catches up with Dr Nair, who reveals
that it is wrong to say that Goa has highest inter-state trafficking
compared to the other states. Besides, he candidly admits that some
NGO's working on the issue of trafficking in Goa, don't know the basic
difference between trafficking and prostitution.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q. How did you arrive at a conclusion that Goa has the highest levels
of inter-state trafficking in the country?
A. For the study, random sampling of 4006 persons across the country
was done. In Baina, we went around 150 houses. The study showed
various dimensions of inter-state and intra-state trafficking. From
this we came to a conclusion that intra-state trafficking is quite
high in other states compared to Goa.
Q. So you agree that it is wrong to say that Goa has the highest
levels of inter-state trafficking of persons compared to other states?
A. Yes. Absolutely. You can't say that Goa has the highest inter-state
trafficking compared to the other states. Infact, you can't say that
trafficking is high or low at any place it. Even if there is no
trafficking crime, trafficking may take place.
Q. Various NGO's are simultaneously conducting training programmes and
workshops for sensitising police about trafficking. Don't you think
too many cooks spoil the broth and create confused policemen?
A. Before we embarked on this training programme, we did a training
need analysis, for which we called senior and junior officers and
functionaries in the police station. I was surprised when over 50
percent of them said that they had attended few "workshops" in the
last five years in Goa and learnt that paedophilia exists and there is
sex tourism. However, they were blissfully unaware of how to address
the issue, investigate it and take it to its logical conclusion. The
so-called "workshops" were on limited issues, depending on the
requirement of the NGO or funding agency. However, UNODC's empowerment
programme is in partnership of GoI, state government and UN with a
regular, structured and focussed training program after which we
expect some accountability as we will be asking the police what they
have done.
Q. Don't you think that the NGO's in Goa themselves need to be trained
and sensitised about handling issues on trafficking?
A. There is no doubt about it because during the training needs
analysis we had invited few NGO's and we found that many of them were
still unaware of the dimensions of trafficking. Surprisingly, many
still believe prostitution is trafficking and trafficking is
prostitution. To remove this mystification there is a definite
requirement to train the NGO's working in this field.
Q. Did these NGO's in the past ever conduct workshops for sensitising
the police?
A. Yes, some of them have.
Q. Can you name the NGO's?
A. No. That won't be proper (smiles).
Q. How much of the money given to combat trafficking in persons has
actually reached the trafficked victims?
A. This is the problem with the workshop-conference culture. We at
UNODC don't believe in this and expect accountability.
Q. Don't you think that just training programs without proper
rehabilitation is futile to combat trafficking?
A. Yes. Law enforcement has to have corresponding activities by
development agencies. The networking between the police department and
other departments will be developed in such a way that once the police
rescue the person, the other departments will also have its
responsibility.
Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Goa Edition, India
Goa is considered to have the highest levels of inter-state
trafficking of persons compared to other states, thanks to an NHRC
study. The man behind the report was an IPS officer Dr PM Nair, who
was the Principal investigator-Researcher for the project and the
present Project Coordinator of Anti Human Trafficking, UNODC, which is
training Goa police. PREETU NAIR catches up with Dr Nair, who reveals
that it is wrong to say that Goa has highest inter-state trafficking
compared to the other states. Besides, he candidly admits that some
NGO's working on the issue of trafficking in Goa, don't know the basic
difference between trafficking and prostitution.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q. How did you arrive at a conclusion that Goa has the highest levels
of inter-state trafficking in the country?
A. For the study, random sampling of 4006 persons across the country
was done. In Baina, we went around 150 houses. The study showed
various dimensions of inter-state and intra-state trafficking. From
this we came to a conclusion that intra-state trafficking is quite
high in other states compared to Goa.
Q. So you agree that it is wrong to say that Goa has the highest
levels of inter-state trafficking of persons compared to other states?
A. Yes. Absolutely. You can't say that Goa has the highest inter-state
trafficking compared to the other states. Infact, you can't say that
trafficking is high or low at any place it. Even if there is no
trafficking crime, trafficking may take place.
Q. Various NGO's are simultaneously conducting training programmes and
workshops for sensitising police about trafficking. Don't you think
too many cooks spoil the broth and create confused policemen?
A. Before we embarked on this training programme, we did a training
need analysis, for which we called senior and junior officers and
functionaries in the police station. I was surprised when over 50
percent of them said that they had attended few "workshops" in the
last five years in Goa and learnt that paedophilia exists and there is
sex tourism. However, they were blissfully unaware of how to address
the issue, investigate it and take it to its logical conclusion. The
so-called "workshops" were on limited issues, depending on the
requirement of the NGO or funding agency. However, UNODC's empowerment
programme is in partnership of GoI, state government and UN with a
regular, structured and focussed training program after which we
expect some accountability as we will be asking the police what they
have done.
Q. Don't you think that the NGO's in Goa themselves need to be trained
and sensitised about handling issues on trafficking?
A. There is no doubt about it because during the training needs
analysis we had invited few NGO's and we found that many of them were
still unaware of the dimensions of trafficking. Surprisingly, many
still believe prostitution is trafficking and trafficking is
prostitution. To remove this mystification there is a definite
requirement to train the NGO's working in this field.
Q. Did these NGO's in the past ever conduct workshops for sensitising
the police?
A. Yes, some of them have.
Q. Can you name the NGO's?
A. No. That won't be proper (smiles).
Q. How much of the money given to combat trafficking in persons has
actually reached the trafficked victims?
A. This is the problem with the workshop-conference culture. We at
UNODC don't believe in this and expect accountability.
Q. Don't you think that just training programs without proper
rehabilitation is futile to combat trafficking?
A. Yes. Law enforcement has to have corresponding activities by
development agencies. The networking between the police department and
other departments will be developed in such a way that once the police
rescue the person, the other departments will also have its
responsibility.
Friday, January 05, 2007
‘OUTSOURCING’- GOA STYLE
‘OUTSOURCING’- GOA STYLE
PETER DE SOUZA & PREETU NAIR
This is a stuff mafia thrillers are made up of. And it’s all happening in Goa…
We looks into the whole business of drug ‘outsourcing’ an investigates the entire modus operandi of Goa drug lords who use ‘carbonised’ suitcases and minor drug carriers to export the stuff out of Goa. Pressure to sell drugs outside has increased following a major crackdown on rave parties and drug syndicated in the state.
THE MEN: Israeli drug lord Agai and his middleman Amir. (there are other smaller kingpins)
THE METHODS: Lock kiya Jaye: The suitcases used to transport drugs through carriers are bought from a shop in Panjim by an employee of that very shop for about Rs 6000 and delivered it to a former Sarpanch of Anjuna, who stays near Starco.
He puts carbonized compartments in the suitcase and sells it to another at Monkey Valley for Rs 25,000. This person neatly packs the suitcase for Israeli drug middleman Amir who hands it over to the carriers most often unsuspecting minors. It is very difficult to get an image of the goods stored in a carbonized compartment in an X-ray, until there is some error.
Amir’s methods:
Cocaine is cool and so are we: H e befriends minor kids and introduces them to cocaine. He then gives them food, shelter and money. Once they are hooked to the drug, he forces them to carry the drug consignments to its foreign destination.
Clothes unmaketh the man or woman: He befriends minor kids and wins their trust. He lures them with gifts and after winning their confidence, offers them an all paid trip abroad with a minor request that they carry a bag of designer clothes to be picked up by his friend at the destination airport. His real designs are obviously different.
THE MADNESS
An Italian minor girl is caught at the Dabolim airport, Goa with ecstasy tablets and MDMA drugs on March 14. She was due to board an Indian Airlines flight to Mumbai enroute to Auckland (New Zealand) via Singapore. Arrested under the NDPS Act and sent to Apna Ghar, Merces.
-born to an Italian mother and Indian father, she was studying in Mumbai. After her standard X exams she came down to her sister's place in Anjuna. In Goa, she was spotted almost at all parties
-at one of these parties, she met a 23-year-old Israeli, popularly known as DJ Tamar. Soon they fell in love and were seen together
-Was also noticed by Amir. Amir befriended her and convinced her to take a fully paid trip aboard. Her boyfriend DJ Tomar was initially kept in the dark.
-After her arrest, her boyfriend was brutally beaten up at a popular bar “Nine Bar” in Anjuna by a few cops in plain clothes. The cops wanted the boyfriend not to give any statement about his suspicions about Amir or the big lord Agai.
-Later, a controversial nightclub owner, who's operating on government land, invited DJ Tamar to perform between 12 to 2 am. Eyewitnesses reveal that as soon as the music started six people overpowered and beat him. "He was profusely bleeding. Then they put a gun on his crotch and threatened to kill him in an encounter if he disclosed the name of the drug lord”
THE LATEST ‘CASE’ STUDY OF GOAS DRUG BUSINESS
PETER DE SOUZA & PREETU NAIR
ANJUNA: The arrest of Italian national, a minor girl, at the Dabolim airport by the custom officials have brought to fore the so far unexposed racket of the drug mafia who use unsuspecting minor kids to serve as drug couriers or "mules" abroad.
The girl was caught at the airport on March 14 at 7 am with 3560 "ecstasy" tablets and 760 gram of MDMA worth Rs 55 lakh in the Indian market and Rs 60 crore in the international market. She was to board an Indian Airlines flight to Mumbai for Auckland via Singapore. Superintendent of customs GD Lotlikar had said that as she went through customs, when her black bag was detected containing ecstasy tablets and MDMA hidden in a secret compartment by the X-ray machine. She has been charged under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and Customs Act and is at the moment relinquishing at Apna Ghar, Merces.
GT/Weekender investigations reveal that with a crackdown on the rave party organizers, the business in the Goa market was dull this season. As a result, the drug mafia is now "outsourcing" synthetic drugs to foreign shores using minor kids. "This year several kilograms of coke and MDMA has been unsold and unused as several rave parties have been clamped down. These synthetic drugs have shelf life of 500 days only. If they are sold within this time, quality deteriorates," revealed a police officer.
It is reliably learnt that drug peddlers sell 10 percent of the synthetic drug in the open market, 40 percent at rave parties and 50 percent is sent to the cosmopolitan cities in the country. Highly placed sources in the police reveal that there was a time when the drug mafia used to sell drugs worth Rs 5 crore plus at the six-day rave party organized near a popular school in Anjuna. "However, due to some controversy surrounding the venue, they couldn't sell drugs here this year", the source added.
The angelic looking demure, Italian girl is just one of the victims. Sources in the Customs and police reveal that the brain behind the whole racket is Israeli drug lord Agai, who operates through another middleman Amir, an Israeli. GT/Weekender investigations reveal that while Amir acts as a middleman between the drug dealers and carriers. Most of the drugs are ‘bought’ by a top international dealer in Japan who purchases these drugs and supplies it to various countries, mostly to Turkey and Germany, for music trance festival or rave parties.
Amir, a young and charming man, is in Goa since long and runs a designer clothes shop at Anjuna. His main job is to strike a deal between the dealers and young carriers. He never discloses the source to the young carriers.
The script of Goa’s expert drug exporters
METHOD 1: Cocaine is cool and so are we: H e befriends minor kids and introduces them to cocaine. Then he caters to their needs and provides them with food, stay and money. Once they are hooked to the drug, he forces them to carry the drug consignments to its foreign destination.
KNOWN VICTIMS: Two minors who had fallen victim to this trick and were caught in Mumbai are a Isareli boy and a German girl. Sources reveal that there are four other minor victims of Amir who were caught in Mumbai, but it couldn't be confirmed.
METHOD 2: Clothes unmaketh the man(or woman): He befriends minor kids and wins their trust. He lures them with gifts and pretends to be their closest buddy, who understands their dreams and aspirations. After winning their confidence, when they don't bother to ask him any questions, he offers them an all paid trip abroad but with a simple condition: "you will have to carry a briefcase with my designer clothes with you, which will collected by friend at the airport". The ' innocent possessors' are tricked into carrying the drug.
KNOWN VICTIM : The Italian girl had to pay a heavy price for befriending Amir.
Reliable sources inform that after the minor girl was caught, the drug lords called an emergency meeting at a shack run by a top Russian drug lord at Vithaldas vaddo in Morjim. Both Amir and Agai were present at the meeting. "After the meeting, Amir was advised to leave the state as Custom officials were for on his trail. We suspect that he paid 8000 US dollar to get a safe passage out from the country," added a top police official.
When GT contacted DIG Ujjwal Mishra he said, "As far as we know, we have been told that she was carrying the drug for personal consumption and very little for selling in a party." He completely denied the abuse of minors by the drug lords for "outsourcing" drugs. "I have no knowledge about it," he added.
It is really strange that a girl who carries so much of drugs for consumption leads a very normal life at Apna Ghar! Sources at Apna Ghar reveal, "She has no withdrawal symptoms, eats only vegetarian food and performs yoga everyday."
MINOR GIRL'S STORY
The minor girl, by now, should have been relaxing in Auckland. But at the moment, the 18-year-old Italian backpacker, is preparing for another night in Apna Ghar, a home for juveniles in conflict with the law, after her Auckland trip via Singapore turned into a nightmare.
Sources reveal that the girl, born to an Italian mother and an Indian father was studying in a boarding school in Mumbai. After her standard X exams she came down to her sister's place in Anjuna. In Goa, she was spotted almost at all parties, smiling and dancing with her friends. She was also seen at rave parties and high night parties at the coastal belt in North Goa.
It's at one such party that she met 23-year-old Israeli, popularly known as DJ Tamar. Soon they fell in love and the couple was spotted at all the parties were Tamar performed as a DJ. A beautiful girl, she was also noticed by Amir. Amir befriended her and after winning her trust convinced her to take a fully paid trip aboard. Her boyfriend DJ Tomar was kept in the dark.
Two days after the girl was arrested, her boyfriend was beaten up at a place called Nine Bar by a few cops in plain uniform. Later, a controversial nightclub owner, who's operating on government land, invited DJ Tamar to perform between 12 to 2 am. Eyewitnesses reveal that so sooner did the music start, six people overpowered him and beat him. "He was profusely bleeding. Then they put a gun on his crotch and threatened to kill him in an encounter if he disclosed the name of the person who put the minor girl in trouble. They then asked him to leave the state immediately. DJ Tomar left the state few days later.
Our sources also reveal that the drug lords and controversial cops have threatened the minor girl and her mother and asked them to maintain a stoic silence. No wonder, when GT/Weekender tried to meet them to get their side of the story, they refused to meet us.
The suitcases used for journey are brought from a shop in Panjim. An employee of the suitcase shop, married to a family in Siolim, buys the expensive branded suitcases ranging from Rs 5000 to 6000 and delivers it to a former Sarpanch of Anjuna, who stays near Starco. He and his workers use their expertise to put carbonized compartments in the suitcase. They then sell it to another person who stays at Monkey Valley for Rs 25,000. This person neatly packs the suitcase for Amir and he hands it over to the minor. It is very difficult to get an image of the goods stored in a carbonized compartment in an X-ray, until there is some error.
The drug mafia looks for minor victims on one major ground:
FOR A MAJOR: Penalties for possession of narcotic substances can be severe. There is a minimum sentence of six months for possession of small amounts for personal consumption only. However, a 10-year sentence for possession of other amounts applies. The slow judicial process means that lengthy pre-trial detention, usually of several years, is the norm.
FOR A MINOR: Under the Juvenile Justice Act, if the juvenile commits a bailable or non-bailable offence, the child shall be released on bail with or without surety. Further detention can only be in observation home and not in prison or police station. The bail provisions for young offenders are far more liberal than those applicable under the criminal procedure
(Article appeared in GT Weekender, Panjim Edition, Goa)
PETER DE SOUZA & PREETU NAIR
This is a stuff mafia thrillers are made up of. And it’s all happening in Goa…
We looks into the whole business of drug ‘outsourcing’ an investigates the entire modus operandi of Goa drug lords who use ‘carbonised’ suitcases and minor drug carriers to export the stuff out of Goa. Pressure to sell drugs outside has increased following a major crackdown on rave parties and drug syndicated in the state.
THE MEN: Israeli drug lord Agai and his middleman Amir. (there are other smaller kingpins)
THE METHODS: Lock kiya Jaye: The suitcases used to transport drugs through carriers are bought from a shop in Panjim by an employee of that very shop for about Rs 6000 and delivered it to a former Sarpanch of Anjuna, who stays near Starco.
He puts carbonized compartments in the suitcase and sells it to another at Monkey Valley for Rs 25,000. This person neatly packs the suitcase for Israeli drug middleman Amir who hands it over to the carriers most often unsuspecting minors. It is very difficult to get an image of the goods stored in a carbonized compartment in an X-ray, until there is some error.
Amir’s methods:
Cocaine is cool and so are we: H e befriends minor kids and introduces them to cocaine. He then gives them food, shelter and money. Once they are hooked to the drug, he forces them to carry the drug consignments to its foreign destination.
Clothes unmaketh the man or woman: He befriends minor kids and wins their trust. He lures them with gifts and after winning their confidence, offers them an all paid trip abroad with a minor request that they carry a bag of designer clothes to be picked up by his friend at the destination airport. His real designs are obviously different.
THE MADNESS
An Italian minor girl is caught at the Dabolim airport, Goa with ecstasy tablets and MDMA drugs on March 14. She was due to board an Indian Airlines flight to Mumbai enroute to Auckland (New Zealand) via Singapore. Arrested under the NDPS Act and sent to Apna Ghar, Merces.
-born to an Italian mother and Indian father, she was studying in Mumbai. After her standard X exams she came down to her sister's place in Anjuna. In Goa, she was spotted almost at all parties
-at one of these parties, she met a 23-year-old Israeli, popularly known as DJ Tamar. Soon they fell in love and were seen together
-Was also noticed by Amir. Amir befriended her and convinced her to take a fully paid trip aboard. Her boyfriend DJ Tomar was initially kept in the dark.
-After her arrest, her boyfriend was brutally beaten up at a popular bar “Nine Bar” in Anjuna by a few cops in plain clothes. The cops wanted the boyfriend not to give any statement about his suspicions about Amir or the big lord Agai.
-Later, a controversial nightclub owner, who's operating on government land, invited DJ Tamar to perform between 12 to 2 am. Eyewitnesses reveal that as soon as the music started six people overpowered and beat him. "He was profusely bleeding. Then they put a gun on his crotch and threatened to kill him in an encounter if he disclosed the name of the drug lord”
THE LATEST ‘CASE’ STUDY OF GOAS DRUG BUSINESS
PETER DE SOUZA & PREETU NAIR
ANJUNA: The arrest of Italian national, a minor girl, at the Dabolim airport by the custom officials have brought to fore the so far unexposed racket of the drug mafia who use unsuspecting minor kids to serve as drug couriers or "mules" abroad.
The girl was caught at the airport on March 14 at 7 am with 3560 "ecstasy" tablets and 760 gram of MDMA worth Rs 55 lakh in the Indian market and Rs 60 crore in the international market. She was to board an Indian Airlines flight to Mumbai for Auckland via Singapore. Superintendent of customs GD Lotlikar had said that as she went through customs, when her black bag was detected containing ecstasy tablets and MDMA hidden in a secret compartment by the X-ray machine. She has been charged under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and Customs Act and is at the moment relinquishing at Apna Ghar, Merces.
GT/Weekender investigations reveal that with a crackdown on the rave party organizers, the business in the Goa market was dull this season. As a result, the drug mafia is now "outsourcing" synthetic drugs to foreign shores using minor kids. "This year several kilograms of coke and MDMA has been unsold and unused as several rave parties have been clamped down. These synthetic drugs have shelf life of 500 days only. If they are sold within this time, quality deteriorates," revealed a police officer.
It is reliably learnt that drug peddlers sell 10 percent of the synthetic drug in the open market, 40 percent at rave parties and 50 percent is sent to the cosmopolitan cities in the country. Highly placed sources in the police reveal that there was a time when the drug mafia used to sell drugs worth Rs 5 crore plus at the six-day rave party organized near a popular school in Anjuna. "However, due to some controversy surrounding the venue, they couldn't sell drugs here this year", the source added.
The angelic looking demure, Italian girl is just one of the victims. Sources in the Customs and police reveal that the brain behind the whole racket is Israeli drug lord Agai, who operates through another middleman Amir, an Israeli. GT/Weekender investigations reveal that while Amir acts as a middleman between the drug dealers and carriers. Most of the drugs are ‘bought’ by a top international dealer in Japan who purchases these drugs and supplies it to various countries, mostly to Turkey and Germany, for music trance festival or rave parties.
Amir, a young and charming man, is in Goa since long and runs a designer clothes shop at Anjuna. His main job is to strike a deal between the dealers and young carriers. He never discloses the source to the young carriers.
The script of Goa’s expert drug exporters
METHOD 1: Cocaine is cool and so are we: H e befriends minor kids and introduces them to cocaine. Then he caters to their needs and provides them with food, stay and money. Once they are hooked to the drug, he forces them to carry the drug consignments to its foreign destination.
KNOWN VICTIMS: Two minors who had fallen victim to this trick and were caught in Mumbai are a Isareli boy and a German girl. Sources reveal that there are four other minor victims of Amir who were caught in Mumbai, but it couldn't be confirmed.
METHOD 2: Clothes unmaketh the man(or woman): He befriends minor kids and wins their trust. He lures them with gifts and pretends to be their closest buddy, who understands their dreams and aspirations. After winning their confidence, when they don't bother to ask him any questions, he offers them an all paid trip abroad but with a simple condition: "you will have to carry a briefcase with my designer clothes with you, which will collected by friend at the airport". The ' innocent possessors' are tricked into carrying the drug.
KNOWN VICTIM : The Italian girl had to pay a heavy price for befriending Amir.
Reliable sources inform that after the minor girl was caught, the drug lords called an emergency meeting at a shack run by a top Russian drug lord at Vithaldas vaddo in Morjim. Both Amir and Agai were present at the meeting. "After the meeting, Amir was advised to leave the state as Custom officials were for on his trail. We suspect that he paid 8000 US dollar to get a safe passage out from the country," added a top police official.
When GT contacted DIG Ujjwal Mishra he said, "As far as we know, we have been told that she was carrying the drug for personal consumption and very little for selling in a party." He completely denied the abuse of minors by the drug lords for "outsourcing" drugs. "I have no knowledge about it," he added.
It is really strange that a girl who carries so much of drugs for consumption leads a very normal life at Apna Ghar! Sources at Apna Ghar reveal, "She has no withdrawal symptoms, eats only vegetarian food and performs yoga everyday."
MINOR GIRL'S STORY
The minor girl, by now, should have been relaxing in Auckland. But at the moment, the 18-year-old Italian backpacker, is preparing for another night in Apna Ghar, a home for juveniles in conflict with the law, after her Auckland trip via Singapore turned into a nightmare.
Sources reveal that the girl, born to an Italian mother and an Indian father was studying in a boarding school in Mumbai. After her standard X exams she came down to her sister's place in Anjuna. In Goa, she was spotted almost at all parties, smiling and dancing with her friends. She was also seen at rave parties and high night parties at the coastal belt in North Goa.
It's at one such party that she met 23-year-old Israeli, popularly known as DJ Tamar. Soon they fell in love and the couple was spotted at all the parties were Tamar performed as a DJ. A beautiful girl, she was also noticed by Amir. Amir befriended her and after winning her trust convinced her to take a fully paid trip aboard. Her boyfriend DJ Tomar was kept in the dark.
Two days after the girl was arrested, her boyfriend was beaten up at a place called Nine Bar by a few cops in plain uniform. Later, a controversial nightclub owner, who's operating on government land, invited DJ Tamar to perform between 12 to 2 am. Eyewitnesses reveal that so sooner did the music start, six people overpowered him and beat him. "He was profusely bleeding. Then they put a gun on his crotch and threatened to kill him in an encounter if he disclosed the name of the person who put the minor girl in trouble. They then asked him to leave the state immediately. DJ Tomar left the state few days later.
Our sources also reveal that the drug lords and controversial cops have threatened the minor girl and her mother and asked them to maintain a stoic silence. No wonder, when GT/Weekender tried to meet them to get their side of the story, they refused to meet us.
The suitcases used for journey are brought from a shop in Panjim. An employee of the suitcase shop, married to a family in Siolim, buys the expensive branded suitcases ranging from Rs 5000 to 6000 and delivers it to a former Sarpanch of Anjuna, who stays near Starco. He and his workers use their expertise to put carbonized compartments in the suitcase. They then sell it to another person who stays at Monkey Valley for Rs 25,000. This person neatly packs the suitcase for Amir and he hands it over to the minor. It is very difficult to get an image of the goods stored in a carbonized compartment in an X-ray, until there is some error.
The drug mafia looks for minor victims on one major ground:
FOR A MAJOR: Penalties for possession of narcotic substances can be severe. There is a minimum sentence of six months for possession of small amounts for personal consumption only. However, a 10-year sentence for possession of other amounts applies. The slow judicial process means that lengthy pre-trial detention, usually of several years, is the norm.
FOR A MINOR: Under the Juvenile Justice Act, if the juvenile commits a bailable or non-bailable offence, the child shall be released on bail with or without surety. Further detention can only be in observation home and not in prison or police station. The bail provisions for young offenders are far more liberal than those applicable under the criminal procedure
(Article appeared in GT Weekender, Panjim Edition, Goa)
Friday, December 29, 2006
No bar on bar girls this Christmas season-Dance you blues away in Goa with girls from Mumbai
GOA SEASON OF WINE AND WOMEN
PREETU NAIR & PETER DE SOUZA
PANJIM: This may well be even more 'grand' than International Film Festival of India-2006, (IFFI-06), which was termed as the greatest show of the year. And why not, when it 'cheers' the hearts of thousands who have 'invaded' Goa this Christmas season.
The show is on. The 'damsels' of the Mumbai dance bars with their jhatkas are here to sizzle Goa.With hundreds of single, rich men, both Indians and foreigners, coming down to Goa during the peak season, there is a high demand for girls to accompany these men to the night clubs and rave parties.
And this demand is being fulfilled by the bar girls from Mumbai who flock to Goa in a group of 10 or 15. The money is good and the girls believe that it is better to be on home turf rather than be trapped in an unknown country.
Varsha Kale, president, Bharatiya Bar Girls Union agrees, "We have found that there is a huge demand for bar girls in Goa since December 15. Girls prefer to go to Goa instead of far-flung destinations abroad as it is safe".
She added, "Moreover, unlike in the past when the girls were paid Rs 1 lakh or more for a show abroad, now they are paid around Rs 30,000 or even less". Compare this with what they earn in Goa from Christmas to Valentine's Day: more than Rs 30,000 a month, depending on the work, attractiveness and personality of the girl.
Arun Pandey of NGO Arz, which is conducting a study on "Impact of ban on dancing in bars in Mumbai", admits, "Goa is one of the major destinations for trafficking of bar girls. It is well-organized and generates huge money for the entire chain of perpetrators and traffickers."
Incidentally, our investigations reveal that it is not only the perpetrators and traffickers who earn money. Even few men in khaki earn anything between Rs 50,000 and more a month, for turning a blind eye to the whole affair. No wonder, though the Margao police have caught Anthony Britto, the main supplier of bar girls in Goa, they have failed to catch his much more powerful accomplices Anish and Kumar, who traffic bar girls to Goa for commercial sex work with the blessings of corrupt policemen and politicians.
However, DGP BS Brar maintained, "If my policemen are doing something like this, I will definitely take action. We have taken action whenever we came across such individual cases. But I am not aware of any such organised activities."
GT goes beyond the obvious and digs further to reveal the prominent places where the bar girls are high in demand:
BAR BAR DEKHO
PLACE: Nightclubs
CUSTOMERS: Single, Indian male
CHARGES: Rs 2000 to 5000 for two hours
MODUS OPERANDI: The agents approach the Indian tourists visiting the nightclubs, majority of which insist on couple entry. Once the deal is stuck, the agent drops a girl at a decided destination, from where the customer picks up the girl, so that there is no suspicion. During the peak season the business is huge.
RAVE ALONG
PLACE: Rave parties
CUSTOMERS: Foreigners
CHARGES: $ 500 (around Rs 22,500) per hour
MODUS OPERANDI: There is a big demand for slim, beautiful, young, brown skinned women amongst foreigners. The money is also big for the girls as they are paid nothing less than Rs 50,000 per month for their services by the agent. However, there is a catch here. Often, the girls are forced to have unprotected sex at the rave party site itself. Otherwise, the girls are safe as the agent helps them and ensures complete protection.
INTERESTING SIDELIGHT: Contrary to DGP Brar's claim that there has not been a single rave party in the last ten days, GT investigations reveal that rave parties continue at Anjuna and Pernem. The latest big rave party started on Christmas afternoon and ended two days later.
MASS OPPOSE
PLACE: Massage parlours
CUSTOMERS: Not fixed
CHARGES: Rs 2000 to 5000 per hour, depending on the type of massage the customer wants
MODUS OPERANDI: Young Nepali and Rajasthani girls who were trafficked to Mumbai to work in the bars are now trafficked to Goa to work in the massage parlours to do exotic body massage.
INTERSTING SIDELIGHT: Tired of the police inaction against the massage parlours which employ scantily clad bargirls in Calangute, the locals rang up the Crime branch a week back and informed them that they fear two terrorists are hiding in the area. When the officials from the Crime branch rushed to the spot, they were taken to the massage parlour and asked to take action against the operators. Infact, even in the past, the Calangute Gram Sabha had created a stir when they unanimously demanded action against those running the illegal activity.
BACHELOR'S DAY OUT
PLACE: Private parties at hotels or clubs
CUSTOMERS: Bachelors
CHARGES: Rs 25,000 for one night show plus extra
MODUS OPERANDI: A group of five girls generally dance for the bachelors, the Mumbaiya dance bar style, on someone's bidding.
INTERSTING SIDELIGHT: Now the bar girls are also invited to perform at birthday parties. Revealed a Minister who attended a six-year-old's birthday party in a five star resort in the North recently, "I was surprised to see the bar girls performing there."
(Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition, December 29,2006)
PREETU NAIR & PETER DE SOUZA
PANJIM: This may well be even more 'grand' than International Film Festival of India-2006, (IFFI-06), which was termed as the greatest show of the year. And why not, when it 'cheers' the hearts of thousands who have 'invaded' Goa this Christmas season.
The show is on. The 'damsels' of the Mumbai dance bars with their jhatkas are here to sizzle Goa.With hundreds of single, rich men, both Indians and foreigners, coming down to Goa during the peak season, there is a high demand for girls to accompany these men to the night clubs and rave parties.
And this demand is being fulfilled by the bar girls from Mumbai who flock to Goa in a group of 10 or 15. The money is good and the girls believe that it is better to be on home turf rather than be trapped in an unknown country.
Varsha Kale, president, Bharatiya Bar Girls Union agrees, "We have found that there is a huge demand for bar girls in Goa since December 15. Girls prefer to go to Goa instead of far-flung destinations abroad as it is safe".
She added, "Moreover, unlike in the past when the girls were paid Rs 1 lakh or more for a show abroad, now they are paid around Rs 30,000 or even less". Compare this with what they earn in Goa from Christmas to Valentine's Day: more than Rs 30,000 a month, depending on the work, attractiveness and personality of the girl.
Arun Pandey of NGO Arz, which is conducting a study on "Impact of ban on dancing in bars in Mumbai", admits, "Goa is one of the major destinations for trafficking of bar girls. It is well-organized and generates huge money for the entire chain of perpetrators and traffickers."
Incidentally, our investigations reveal that it is not only the perpetrators and traffickers who earn money. Even few men in khaki earn anything between Rs 50,000 and more a month, for turning a blind eye to the whole affair. No wonder, though the Margao police have caught Anthony Britto, the main supplier of bar girls in Goa, they have failed to catch his much more powerful accomplices Anish and Kumar, who traffic bar girls to Goa for commercial sex work with the blessings of corrupt policemen and politicians.
However, DGP BS Brar maintained, "If my policemen are doing something like this, I will definitely take action. We have taken action whenever we came across such individual cases. But I am not aware of any such organised activities."
GT goes beyond the obvious and digs further to reveal the prominent places where the bar girls are high in demand:
BAR BAR DEKHO
PLACE: Nightclubs
CUSTOMERS: Single, Indian male
CHARGES: Rs 2000 to 5000 for two hours
MODUS OPERANDI: The agents approach the Indian tourists visiting the nightclubs, majority of which insist on couple entry. Once the deal is stuck, the agent drops a girl at a decided destination, from where the customer picks up the girl, so that there is no suspicion. During the peak season the business is huge.
RAVE ALONG
PLACE: Rave parties
CUSTOMERS: Foreigners
CHARGES: $ 500 (around Rs 22,500) per hour
MODUS OPERANDI: There is a big demand for slim, beautiful, young, brown skinned women amongst foreigners. The money is also big for the girls as they are paid nothing less than Rs 50,000 per month for their services by the agent. However, there is a catch here. Often, the girls are forced to have unprotected sex at the rave party site itself. Otherwise, the girls are safe as the agent helps them and ensures complete protection.
INTERESTING SIDELIGHT: Contrary to DGP Brar's claim that there has not been a single rave party in the last ten days, GT investigations reveal that rave parties continue at Anjuna and Pernem. The latest big rave party started on Christmas afternoon and ended two days later.
MASS OPPOSE
PLACE: Massage parlours
CUSTOMERS: Not fixed
CHARGES: Rs 2000 to 5000 per hour, depending on the type of massage the customer wants
MODUS OPERANDI: Young Nepali and Rajasthani girls who were trafficked to Mumbai to work in the bars are now trafficked to Goa to work in the massage parlours to do exotic body massage.
INTERSTING SIDELIGHT: Tired of the police inaction against the massage parlours which employ scantily clad bargirls in Calangute, the locals rang up the Crime branch a week back and informed them that they fear two terrorists are hiding in the area. When the officials from the Crime branch rushed to the spot, they were taken to the massage parlour and asked to take action against the operators. Infact, even in the past, the Calangute Gram Sabha had created a stir when they unanimously demanded action against those running the illegal activity.
BACHELOR'S DAY OUT
PLACE: Private parties at hotels or clubs
CUSTOMERS: Bachelors
CHARGES: Rs 25,000 for one night show plus extra
MODUS OPERANDI: A group of five girls generally dance for the bachelors, the Mumbaiya dance bar style, on someone's bidding.
INTERSTING SIDELIGHT: Now the bar girls are also invited to perform at birthday parties. Revealed a Minister who attended a six-year-old's birthday party in a five star resort in the North recently, "I was surprised to see the bar girls performing there."
(Article appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim Edition, December 29,2006)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
