"I couldn't believe it was the same girl' says man who found the minor
Preetu Nair , TNN
PANAJI: When he offered some eatables to a little girl standing outside his shop last Saturday, Umesh Dhavaskar, 49, did not realize he had known
her before or that he was going to be instrumental in saving the girl from an unimaginable horror.
"I just couldn't believe this was the same girl I had known for the last three years. The girl I had known was pretty and chirpy, the one I was seeing now, after a gap of almost six months was sad, thin and without the charm she had," says Dhavaskar, who runs a modest restaurant in Mapusa near the bus stand.
"Last Saturday at about 9 am I saw a small girl standing outside my shop. I thought she was waiting for someone. An hour later, I noticed her again. When I approached her and asked her if she was waiting for someone, she got emotional and said, I am hungry'," recalls Dhavaskar, who then offered her some snacks.
While the girl was eating, an elderly motorcycle pilot Datta Salgaonkar walked into the restaurant and recognised her. "When he told me that this was the same girl who would walk into my restaurant often with her mother, smiling, cheerful and full of life, I was shocked. She looked so different. The girl I knew had thick hair, beautiful features and was healthy. But the girl who sat in front of me was lean, with very short hair and appeared disillusioned with life," said Dhavaskar.
Dhavaskar had no knowledge of the girl's injuries at that time. It was only after the girl spilled her tale of woes to Salgaonkar and his wife that this came to be known. "I was shocked when I heard her story and saw her wounds. I have three young daughters. I just couldn't believe that a human being can treat a child like this," he said.
He added, "I called the police and said, Here is a girl in dismay standing in my shop. If you can help, do help her'." The Mapusa police came within 15 minutes to help the minor, he added.
People in the vicinity knew the child and her mother, who worked as a daily wage worker at construction sites. They allege that the mother was an alcoholic and would often beat the minor. Incidentally, the minor's mother, who couldn't be traced, returned to Goa on Thursday and the police recorded her statement on Thursday.
"The mother said she had come from Gadak to meet her daughter as she was in the hospital. She also said that she was aware that her daughter was working as a domestic help at the Pednekar residence at Porvorim," says Dhavaskar.
1 August 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Goa: No funds from state govt for swine flu
No funds from state govt for swine flu
TNN 1 August 2009
PANAJI: Even as the number of A(H1N1) cases in India touched 475, with about six cases in Goa, the state nodal officer for swine flu Dr Rajendra Tamba has issued a press statement through the director of information appealing to the people not to contact him for information on swine flu, since he has no funds to carry out any activity related to the disease.
The release states, "The expenses so far were made from funds under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) received from the government of India, which are now exhausted. Incidentally, 19 contract staff working under IDSP will be going without their salary this month as their funds were utilised for swine flu activities. No money has been received from the state government despite repeated requests. The amount asked for was Rs 10 lakh."
TOI had a fortnight back reported that Dr Tamba had written to chief minister Digambar Kamat asking to be relieved from the post. He had reportedly alleged in the letter that the state health authorities were not cooperating with him and not doing enough for the quarantined patients. It is reliably learnt that in the letter he had asked for a dedicated ambulance to shift swine flu patients, as a new driver was being exposed to swine flu each time.
The government of India guidelines regarding swine flu state there have to be dedicated doctors, nurses and paramedical workers taking care of the patients. This is required as medical staff dealing with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu are at a greater risk of catching the infection. In Goa, these have been violated as doctors and nurses who take care of swine flu patients also deal with the other patients in the hospital, besides handling emergencies.
Also there are no separate ambulances for swine flu patients. "There is no money to hire vehicles to send people to collect samples and send them to Delhi for examination," said sources.
So far, a total of 14,439 passengers, 118 of them being international passengers, have been screened at the airport. Another 21 persons who arrived by ship at Mormugao port were also screened.
1 August 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN 1 August 2009
PANAJI: Even as the number of A(H1N1) cases in India touched 475, with about six cases in Goa, the state nodal officer for swine flu Dr Rajendra Tamba has issued a press statement through the director of information appealing to the people not to contact him for information on swine flu, since he has no funds to carry out any activity related to the disease.
The release states, "The expenses so far were made from funds under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) received from the government of India, which are now exhausted. Incidentally, 19 contract staff working under IDSP will be going without their salary this month as their funds were utilised for swine flu activities. No money has been received from the state government despite repeated requests. The amount asked for was Rs 10 lakh."
TOI had a fortnight back reported that Dr Tamba had written to chief minister Digambar Kamat asking to be relieved from the post. He had reportedly alleged in the letter that the state health authorities were not cooperating with him and not doing enough for the quarantined patients. It is reliably learnt that in the letter he had asked for a dedicated ambulance to shift swine flu patients, as a new driver was being exposed to swine flu each time.
The government of India guidelines regarding swine flu state there have to be dedicated doctors, nurses and paramedical workers taking care of the patients. This is required as medical staff dealing with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu are at a greater risk of catching the infection. In Goa, these have been violated as doctors and nurses who take care of swine flu patients also deal with the other patients in the hospital, besides handling emergencies.
Also there are no separate ambulances for swine flu patients. "There is no money to hire vehicles to send people to collect samples and send them to Delhi for examination," said sources.
So far, a total of 14,439 passengers, 118 of them being international passengers, have been screened at the airport. Another 21 persons who arrived by ship at Mormugao port were also screened.
1 August 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Friday, July 31, 2009
Broker made Rs 4,000, says abused child maid
Broker made Rs 4,000, says abused child maid
TNN
PANAJI: The grandmother of the minor girl employed as a maid at the Pednekar residence—where the 10-year-old was allegedly abused and burnt—was paid Rs 800 to send her to work. The middleman, a resident of Panaji, received Rs 4,000. This was revealed by the girl to the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR).
In her statement to the police and the GSCPCR, the minor, who is now recuperating at Goa Medical College and Hospital, said that a few months after her father died in 2008, she started living with her grandparents. One day a neighbour approached her grandmother with an offer for the girl to work as a maid. She first worked at a house in Panaji and later at the Pednekar household in Porvorim.
“My grandmother told me that I could go to work at this place. Then I was sent to work at a place in Panaji. It was from this place that Shubam (Pednekar) came and picked me up and took me to his residence,” the minor said. She also said that Pednekar had paid her earlier employer in Panaji Rs 4,000, and another Rs 800 to her grandmother.
GSCPCR chairperson Sameera Kazi said, “When we visited the girl in the hospital on Wednesday, we found that her grandfather had finally come to meet her. We asked her if she would like to be with her grandparents or with her mother. She said she didn’t want to be with any of them.” GSCPCR will now write to the police asking them not to leave the girl to her grandparents’ care. The girl’s mother, who used to live at Mapusa, has remained untraced.
30 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN
PANAJI: The grandmother of the minor girl employed as a maid at the Pednekar residence—where the 10-year-old was allegedly abused and burnt—was paid Rs 800 to send her to work. The middleman, a resident of Panaji, received Rs 4,000. This was revealed by the girl to the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR).
In her statement to the police and the GSCPCR, the minor, who is now recuperating at Goa Medical College and Hospital, said that a few months after her father died in 2008, she started living with her grandparents. One day a neighbour approached her grandmother with an offer for the girl to work as a maid. She first worked at a house in Panaji and later at the Pednekar household in Porvorim.
“My grandmother told me that I could go to work at this place. Then I was sent to work at a place in Panaji. It was from this place that Shubam (Pednekar) came and picked me up and took me to his residence,” the minor said. She also said that Pednekar had paid her earlier employer in Panaji Rs 4,000, and another Rs 800 to her grandmother.
GSCPCR chairperson Sameera Kazi said, “When we visited the girl in the hospital on Wednesday, we found that her grandfather had finally come to meet her. We asked her if she would like to be with her grandparents or with her mother. She said she didn’t want to be with any of them.” GSCPCR will now write to the police asking them not to leave the girl to her grandparents’ care. The girl’s mother, who used to live at Mapusa, has remained untraced.
30 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
They didn’t really need a reason to torture her
They didn’t really need a reason to torture her
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: The first time she was “burnt” was for not doing the dishes. But the sad part is that there was no work to be done, all the dishes had
already been cleaned.
This is what a ten-year-old maid tortured by her employer has told the police. In her statement, the girl has also said that she was often beaten up or kicked in the stomach.
The girl, who incidentally belongs to a scheduled tribe, was also taunted about this. And now her alleged tormentors—Porvorim resident Audumber (Shubham) Pednekar, a civil engineer, his wife Minaxi and sister-in-law Tina—face charges under the Prevention of Atrocities (SC/ST) Act apart from charges under the IPC and the Goa Children’s Act.
While Audumber was arrested and later freed on bail, Minaxi and Tina are absconding.
Sources said the minor, who lost her father last year, was originally from Gadag, Hubli, but was living with her grandmother in Goa. About seven months back, a neighbour approached her grandmother and brought her to the Pednekar residence to work as a domestic help.
“She told us that initially the family was fine and she was asked to do all the work. The torture started a month later, when Tina allegedly started hitting her with a wire for not cleaning utensils or not mopping the floor or for failing to wash clothes on time.”
The girl would then be forced to sleep in the balcony. Her employers would lock the door from inside and open it only in the morning, sources said.
According to the victim, she was first “burnt” for not washing utensils even when there was no utensil in the sink to wash. “The girl said that Tina took a hot spoon from a stove and put it to her face,” sources said.
The girl was once allegedly kicked on the stomach by Audumber for failing to remove a stain on his trousers. “When she fell on a stone slab in the bathroom (used for washing clothes), she was further beaten with a pipe from the washing machine,” say police sources.
The final straw, the police said, was when the girl drank the couple’s seven-month-old twins’ medicine. “I was feeling very sick (with fever) and still had to do the work. As they were not giving me any medicine I took the children’s medicine,” the girl told the police.
When Minaxi learnt of this, she told the minor that she would have to burn her. The girl said that Minaxi then closed the door and windows to ensure that no one heard the girl’s screams and placed a heated flat steel spoon on her leg, back and hand, leaving burns and blisters, police said.
Even as the girl—without medical attention—writhed in pain for days, the family forced her to work. On Saturday, when Minaxi was feeding the babies and Tina had gone to the bathroom, the girl ran away.
“Since the girl is from a scheduled tribe, we have added Section 3 (1) (11) of Prevention of Atrocities (SC/ST) Act, besides sections of the IPC and Children’s Act against the three accused. Investigations have been transferred to DySP Gundu Naik,” said police spokesperson SP A V Deshpande.
Meanwhile, the girl, who had suffered burn injuries on her back and thighs, is recuperating at Goa Medical College and Hospital.
GMC doctors on Monday said she had suffered “simple injuries”, but didn’t specify the amount of injuries on her body.
Unhappy with this, the police have written to the GMC dean requesting a complete medical examination. “The dean has constituted a medical board that will examine the girl on Wednesday for all possible injuries, both old and new,” added Deshpande.
Pednekar’s advocate Damodar Dhond said, “The girl’s medical certificate has opined that she has simple injuries. This is not a serious offence. I am not aware that a new section has been added. We have filed for anticipatory bail for the two women and will wait for the reply from the police,” he said.
“We will oppose the anticipatory bail application of the two co-accused. We are also going to file a revision application against the bail granted to Pednekar,” said Deshpande.
29 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: The first time she was “burnt” was for not doing the dishes. But the sad part is that there was no work to be done, all the dishes had
already been cleaned.
This is what a ten-year-old maid tortured by her employer has told the police. In her statement, the girl has also said that she was often beaten up or kicked in the stomach.
The girl, who incidentally belongs to a scheduled tribe, was also taunted about this. And now her alleged tormentors—Porvorim resident Audumber (Shubham) Pednekar, a civil engineer, his wife Minaxi and sister-in-law Tina—face charges under the Prevention of Atrocities (SC/ST) Act apart from charges under the IPC and the Goa Children’s Act.
While Audumber was arrested and later freed on bail, Minaxi and Tina are absconding.
Sources said the minor, who lost her father last year, was originally from Gadag, Hubli, but was living with her grandmother in Goa. About seven months back, a neighbour approached her grandmother and brought her to the Pednekar residence to work as a domestic help.
“She told us that initially the family was fine and she was asked to do all the work. The torture started a month later, when Tina allegedly started hitting her with a wire for not cleaning utensils or not mopping the floor or for failing to wash clothes on time.”
The girl would then be forced to sleep in the balcony. Her employers would lock the door from inside and open it only in the morning, sources said.
According to the victim, she was first “burnt” for not washing utensils even when there was no utensil in the sink to wash. “The girl said that Tina took a hot spoon from a stove and put it to her face,” sources said.
The girl was once allegedly kicked on the stomach by Audumber for failing to remove a stain on his trousers. “When she fell on a stone slab in the bathroom (used for washing clothes), she was further beaten with a pipe from the washing machine,” say police sources.
The final straw, the police said, was when the girl drank the couple’s seven-month-old twins’ medicine. “I was feeling very sick (with fever) and still had to do the work. As they were not giving me any medicine I took the children’s medicine,” the girl told the police.
When Minaxi learnt of this, she told the minor that she would have to burn her. The girl said that Minaxi then closed the door and windows to ensure that no one heard the girl’s screams and placed a heated flat steel spoon on her leg, back and hand, leaving burns and blisters, police said.
Even as the girl—without medical attention—writhed in pain for days, the family forced her to work. On Saturday, when Minaxi was feeding the babies and Tina had gone to the bathroom, the girl ran away.
“Since the girl is from a scheduled tribe, we have added Section 3 (1) (11) of Prevention of Atrocities (SC/ST) Act, besides sections of the IPC and Children’s Act against the three accused. Investigations have been transferred to DySP Gundu Naik,” said police spokesperson SP A V Deshpande.
Meanwhile, the girl, who had suffered burn injuries on her back and thighs, is recuperating at Goa Medical College and Hospital.
GMC doctors on Monday said she had suffered “simple injuries”, but didn’t specify the amount of injuries on her body.
Unhappy with this, the police have written to the GMC dean requesting a complete medical examination. “The dean has constituted a medical board that will examine the girl on Wednesday for all possible injuries, both old and new,” added Deshpande.
Pednekar’s advocate Damodar Dhond said, “The girl’s medical certificate has opined that she has simple injuries. This is not a serious offence. I am not aware that a new section has been added. We have filed for anticipatory bail for the two women and will wait for the reply from the police,” he said.
“We will oppose the anticipatory bail application of the two co-accused. We are also going to file a revision application against the bail granted to Pednekar,” said Deshpande.
29 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Soiled sheets, torn gown greet minor
Soiled sheets, torn gown greet minor
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: The ugly side of Goa Medical College and Hospital was once again exposed when the ten-year-old victim of child abuse was admitted on
Saturday. She was given soiled sheets and a torn gown to wear, until members of the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights intervened on Monday.
GSCPCR chairperson Sameera Kazi said, “When we visited the girl in hospital on Monday, we saw that she had been given a soiled bedsheet and a dirty and torn gown to wear. We directed the nurse to take care of the minor and change the soiled clothes, which they did after some initial reluctance.”
According to sources, the girl spent the forst night in the soiled clothes in which she was brought to hospital by the police. It was only on Sunday that she was given a dirty and torn gown at GMC.
Incidentally, health minister Vishwajit Rane has often stressed that adequate arrangements should be made to ensure that patients are not given soiled sheets or torn gowns.
Reacting to the treatment meted out to the child, Rane said, “I am shocked. I am told by the joint director accounts that 6,000 plus bed sheets have been sent to GMC on Monday. I will look into the matter.”
When contacted, GMC medical superintendent Dr Rajan Kunkolienkar said, “I have personally ensured that she is given the best care possible. To provide better care and ensure that visitors don’t disturb her, we are shifting her to a private room.”
Sources said that when at first Kazi confronted the room nurse about the soiled sheets, the duty nurse insisted that the sheets were changed regularly. But the child revealed that it had not been changed since the time she had been brought to the hospital.
Kazi told TOI, “We were told that the staff was applying medicine on her. But when I opened the silver tube, we found that the seal had not been broken.” Interestingly, the doctor treating the minor has asked NGO Scan to purchase the silver
X tube and an injection as the same was not available in the hospital.
The GSCPCR recorded the girl’s statement on Tuesday evening and will conduct a separate inquiry in the incident of child abuse.
29 July, 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: The ugly side of Goa Medical College and Hospital was once again exposed when the ten-year-old victim of child abuse was admitted on
Saturday. She was given soiled sheets and a torn gown to wear, until members of the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights intervened on Monday.
GSCPCR chairperson Sameera Kazi said, “When we visited the girl in hospital on Monday, we saw that she had been given a soiled bedsheet and a dirty and torn gown to wear. We directed the nurse to take care of the minor and change the soiled clothes, which they did after some initial reluctance.”
According to sources, the girl spent the forst night in the soiled clothes in which she was brought to hospital by the police. It was only on Sunday that she was given a dirty and torn gown at GMC.
Incidentally, health minister Vishwajit Rane has often stressed that adequate arrangements should be made to ensure that patients are not given soiled sheets or torn gowns.
Reacting to the treatment meted out to the child, Rane said, “I am shocked. I am told by the joint director accounts that 6,000 plus bed sheets have been sent to GMC on Monday. I will look into the matter.”
When contacted, GMC medical superintendent Dr Rajan Kunkolienkar said, “I have personally ensured that she is given the best care possible. To provide better care and ensure that visitors don’t disturb her, we are shifting her to a private room.”
Sources said that when at first Kazi confronted the room nurse about the soiled sheets, the duty nurse insisted that the sheets were changed regularly. But the child revealed that it had not been changed since the time she had been brought to the hospital.
Kazi told TOI, “We were told that the staff was applying medicine on her. But when I opened the silver tube, we found that the seal had not been broken.” Interestingly, the doctor treating the minor has asked NGO Scan to purchase the silver
X tube and an injection as the same was not available in the hospital.
The GSCPCR recorded the girl’s statement on Tuesday evening and will conduct a separate inquiry in the incident of child abuse.
29 July, 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Monday, July 27, 2009
Engineer arrested for torturing minor girl
Engineer arrested for torturing minor girl
TNN
Photo credits:Anil Lad
PANAJI: In a gruesome case of child abuse, a ten year old girl employed as a maid in a house at Porvorim was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital with burn injuries on her thighs and back.
Porvorim police have arrested her employer Audumber (Shubham) Pednekar, a civil engineer by profession, and registered a case under section 324 read with 34 of IPC and section 7(c) and 8 (2) of the Goa Children's Act against him.
Audumber's wife, Minaxi and his sister-in-law Tina have been named as co-accused in the case, but are yet to be arrested. Porvorim police said that the minor girl, employed as a maid at Pednekar's house, was punished for allegedly "stealing" the medicine of their seven month old twins and drinking it as the girl was feeling unwell.
The matter came to light on Saturday when the minor, tired of the alleged repeated beatings and unable to bear the torture, escaped from Pednekar's house in Soccoro and reached Mapusa. At Mapusa she asked a shopkeeper for some money to eat something. Seeing her condition the shop owner informed the Mapusa police who arrived immediately.
At the police station the cops found that the girl could barely sit as she had burn injuries on her back and thighs. They immediately contacted an NGO who took the child to Porvorim police station and lodged a complaint against the three.
In her complaint director of NGO, SCAN Audrey Pinto said that since the past two or three months the three accused have been allegedly assaulting the minor girl with cable wires and also burned her placing a hot, flat steel frying pan on the girl's thighs and back resulting in the burn injuries.
Police said they are yet to record the girl's statement as she is recuperating in hospital. Sources also said the girl revealed to the NGO that she is from Karnataka and that seven months back her mother had kept her in the house as a maid. However, her mother who earlier lived in Mapusa could not be traced.
27 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ghajini-inspired spurned lover planned kidnap
Ghajini-inspired spurned lover planned kidnap
Preetu Nair, TNN 26 July 2009,
PANAJI: Srinivas Venkatesh, a hardware engineer who likened himself to the heartbroken, revenge-seeking hero of Ghajini, meticulously planned the abduction of Sayed Aiyaz Azgar from Chicalim, police sources told TOI on Saturday.
The 27-year-old native of Andhra Pradesh, arrested on Saturday morning, considered Aiyaz to be one of the "friends" responsible for his 'girlfriend' breaking up with him. His motive in kidnapping, police sources said, was not just the ransom of Rs 30 lakh, but to eventually kill Aiyaz in "revenge".
Venkatesh, who came to Goa in 1997, last worked as a systems administrator for a private firm. Residing in Vasco, he met Aiyaz and three of his friends and befriended the lot. Through them, he met a local girl in 2008 with whom he fell in love. The girl was looking for a call centre job and Venkatesh promised to help her get one. Claiming to have good contacts in the BPO industry, he started getting close to her.
"They went on dates, talked on the phone and were in regular touch over a social networking site," said police sources. However, things turned sour when Venkatesh started getting possessive and obsessive about her. He abused her when she refused to marry him or to have a physical relationship with him, said sources.
July 26, The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN 26 July 2009,
PANAJI: Srinivas Venkatesh, a hardware engineer who likened himself to the heartbroken, revenge-seeking hero of Ghajini, meticulously planned the abduction of Sayed Aiyaz Azgar from Chicalim, police sources told TOI on Saturday.
The 27-year-old native of Andhra Pradesh, arrested on Saturday morning, considered Aiyaz to be one of the "friends" responsible for his 'girlfriend' breaking up with him. His motive in kidnapping, police sources said, was not just the ransom of Rs 30 lakh, but to eventually kill Aiyaz in "revenge".
Venkatesh, who came to Goa in 1997, last worked as a systems administrator for a private firm. Residing in Vasco, he met Aiyaz and three of his friends and befriended the lot. Through them, he met a local girl in 2008 with whom he fell in love. The girl was looking for a call centre job and Venkatesh promised to help her get one. Claiming to have good contacts in the BPO industry, he started getting close to her.
"They went on dates, talked on the phone and were in regular touch over a social networking site," said police sources. However, things turned sour when Venkatesh started getting possessive and obsessive about her. He abused her when she refused to marry him or to have a physical relationship with him, said sources.
July 26, The Times of India, Goa edition
Health department yet to fully wake up to swine flu scourge
Health department yet to fully wake up to swine flu scourge
TNN
PANAJI: A nine-year-old girl from Sharjah, UAE, who had arrived in Goa on Saturday to attend her cousin's birthday celebrations, was admitted to the isolation ward of Goa Medical College and hospital at Bambolim as she was suspected to have contracted the swine flu virus.
But, shockingly, she was shifted from the Dabolim airport to GMC in an ambulance that is used to ferry critically ill patients and accident victims.
This incident has highlighted the fact that despite six confirmed cases of swine flu in Goa, there is not a single ambulance allotted for the use of swine flu patients. What's even worse, is that there is no sanitization of the vehicle done after it is used for moving swine flu patients, said health officials.
The health officials pointed out that this is in contravention of the central government's swine flu clinical management protocol and infection control guidelines, which clearly state that the once a patient is admitted to a hospital, the interior and exterior of the ambulance and reusable patient care equipment needs to be sanitized using sodium hypochlorite/quaternary ammonium compounds.
Incidentally, last week, the health department's nodal officer for swine flu, Dr Rajendra Tamba, had written to the chief minister asking to be relieved of his duties. He had reportedly alleged in the letter that the state health authorities were not cooperating with him and not doing enough for quarantined patients.
It is also reliably learnt that in the letter Dr Tamba also mentioned that despite asking for one dedicated ambulance to shift swine flu patients, everytime a new driver was being exposed to the deadly disease. But, even a week later, nothing has changed.
Although World Health Organisation (WHO) states that there should be a separate doctor and nurse for a quarantine ward, in Chicalim the duty nurse and doctor
continue to take care of swine flu patients and also those suffering from other ailments. Sources said that even one and a half months after the first swine flu case was detected, there are still no pillows for patients at Chicalim Cottage Hospital.
When contacted, Dr Tamba said, "The health secretary has been really supportive and he has promised to improve the situation at the earliest." Health secretary Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, who is also the chief secretary, told TOI that the "government is looking into the issue and it will be sorted out soon".
Health authorities also reveal that there has been not a single continuing medical education (CME) programme on swine flu organized for government doctors and support staff.
"Due to this, doctors don't know when a patient has to be treated as a suspected case or where to send them and precautions that need to be taken to ensure that a patient doesn't spread the virus," said a senior government doctor.
Take the case of a middle aged British tourist who went to a health centre in North Goa with severe cough on Saturday morning. The doctor on duty asked her to go to GMC's pathology department to check for swine flu.
From the pathology department, she was sent to medicine department and then to the hospital's casualty ward, where they did not know whether or not to send her to the swine flu isolation ward.
However, the British tourist was later quietly discharged after the GMC doctors found that the woman, who had arrived in the state a month ago, had been suffering from cough and cold since the last few months.
26 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN
PANAJI: A nine-year-old girl from Sharjah, UAE, who had arrived in Goa on Saturday to attend her cousin's birthday celebrations, was admitted to the isolation ward of Goa Medical College and hospital at Bambolim as she was suspected to have contracted the swine flu virus.
But, shockingly, she was shifted from the Dabolim airport to GMC in an ambulance that is used to ferry critically ill patients and accident victims.
This incident has highlighted the fact that despite six confirmed cases of swine flu in Goa, there is not a single ambulance allotted for the use of swine flu patients. What's even worse, is that there is no sanitization of the vehicle done after it is used for moving swine flu patients, said health officials.
The health officials pointed out that this is in contravention of the central government's swine flu clinical management protocol and infection control guidelines, which clearly state that the once a patient is admitted to a hospital, the interior and exterior of the ambulance and reusable patient care equipment needs to be sanitized using sodium hypochlorite/quaternary ammonium compounds.
Incidentally, last week, the health department's nodal officer for swine flu, Dr Rajendra Tamba, had written to the chief minister asking to be relieved of his duties. He had reportedly alleged in the letter that the state health authorities were not cooperating with him and not doing enough for quarantined patients.
It is also reliably learnt that in the letter Dr Tamba also mentioned that despite asking for one dedicated ambulance to shift swine flu patients, everytime a new driver was being exposed to the deadly disease. But, even a week later, nothing has changed.
Although World Health Organisation (WHO) states that there should be a separate doctor and nurse for a quarantine ward, in Chicalim the duty nurse and doctor
continue to take care of swine flu patients and also those suffering from other ailments. Sources said that even one and a half months after the first swine flu case was detected, there are still no pillows for patients at Chicalim Cottage Hospital.
When contacted, Dr Tamba said, "The health secretary has been really supportive and he has promised to improve the situation at the earliest." Health secretary Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, who is also the chief secretary, told TOI that the "government is looking into the issue and it will be sorted out soon".
Health authorities also reveal that there has been not a single continuing medical education (CME) programme on swine flu organized for government doctors and support staff.
"Due to this, doctors don't know when a patient has to be treated as a suspected case or where to send them and precautions that need to be taken to ensure that a patient doesn't spread the virus," said a senior government doctor.
Take the case of a middle aged British tourist who went to a health centre in North Goa with severe cough on Saturday morning. The doctor on duty asked her to go to GMC's pathology department to check for swine flu.
From the pathology department, she was sent to medicine department and then to the hospital's casualty ward, where they did not know whether or not to send her to the swine flu isolation ward.
However, the British tourist was later quietly discharged after the GMC doctors found that the woman, who had arrived in the state a month ago, had been suffering from cough and cold since the last few months.
26 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Rabies killed 11 in 2008, says Vishwajit
Rabies killed 11 in 2008, says Vishwajit
TNN
PANAJI: Last year, 11 persons in Goa died due to rabies — the highest in the state in the last five years. Replying to an unstarred question by Mapusa MLA Francis D'Souza, health minister Vishwajit Rane said rabies has claimed two lives in the first five months of this year, adding that 108 cases of rabies had been reported till May 2009.
Rabies, a zoonotic disease (transmitted to humans from animals) is caused by a virus. It infects domestic as well as wild animals, and is spread to people through close contact with saliva (via bites or scratches) of an infected dog, cat etc. In 2008, 192 cases of rabies were recorded. In 2007, the figure stood at 223, with 2 deaths registered
24 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN
PANAJI: Last year, 11 persons in Goa died due to rabies — the highest in the state in the last five years. Replying to an unstarred question by Mapusa MLA Francis D'Souza, health minister Vishwajit Rane said rabies has claimed two lives in the first five months of this year, adding that 108 cases of rabies had been reported till May 2009.
Rabies, a zoonotic disease (transmitted to humans from animals) is caused by a virus. It infects domestic as well as wild animals, and is spread to people through close contact with saliva (via bites or scratches) of an infected dog, cat etc. In 2008, 192 cases of rabies were recorded. In 2007, the figure stood at 223, with 2 deaths registered
24 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Monday, July 20, 2009
Cops unable to trace missing Russian
Cops unable to trace missuing Russian
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: More than six months after Russian national, Victor Pomerantsev, who was staying in Goa without valid documents, was discharged from the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB), the Goa police is still clueless about his whereabouts.
Even as the Russian consulate in Mumbai waits to repatriate the Russian national, the Goa police have sent wireless to all police stations and have asked cops to check Victor's whereabouts. The matter came to light in April 2009, when the Russian consulate official went to the Goa police's foreigner's registration office (FRO) to seek permission for Victor to leave the country'.
Victor was admitted to IPHB on June 11, 2008 and his illness was diagnosed as substance induced psychotic disorder. At IPHB, Victor kept repeating that he doesn't want to leave the country, "because he loves India". His visa expired in September 2007.
IPHB medical superintendent B S Cuncoliencar said, "He was admitted to the hospital for observation and treatment. Days before his discharge we informed Calangute police that the patient was fit to be discharged. But there was no response and as the doctor treating him gave a certificate stating that he is fit for discharge, we discharged him".
Incidentally, the Goa police was aware that the IPHB had decided to discharge Victor, as indicated by a letter written by SP (FRO) to the Russian authorities in November 2008, with a request to urgently repatriate Victor. The SP (FRO) wrote, "The office is now in receipt of letter from PI Calangute, wherein it is informed that the foreign national is now fit for discharge and doesn't require further hospitalization and requested to take his custody back".
The letter added, "To urgently take up repatriation of the Russian national or the representative of the Russian embassy in Goa may be urgently contacted and directed to take custody of the foreign national and necessary arrangements be made to repatriate the foreign national to his own country". But neither the police nor the Russian authorities took custody of Victor.
Said an official from FRO, "The process of Victor's repatriation is on. After he was discharged from IPHB, his present whereabouts are not known. The minute he is traced we will proceed with repatriation. We have flashed wireless messages to all police stations and asked them to provide information on his whereabouts".
Police sources said that he was admitted to the IPHB following a complaint from the Calangute police that an "unknown male, appearing to be a foreigner giving all vague answers, of unsound mind was wandering in the market and creating a nuisance in public places." He was first picked up by the Mapusa police for being a "public nuisance" and admitted to the IPHB in March, 2008, for almost 25 days. Later in April he was picked up by the Calangute police and sent to the IPHB. He was again picked up by the Calangute police in June.
20 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: More than six months after Russian national, Victor Pomerantsev, who was staying in Goa without valid documents, was discharged from the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB), the Goa police is still clueless about his whereabouts.
Even as the Russian consulate in Mumbai waits to repatriate the Russian national, the Goa police have sent wireless to all police stations and have asked cops to check Victor's whereabouts. The matter came to light in April 2009, when the Russian consulate official went to the Goa police's foreigner's registration office (FRO) to seek permission for Victor to leave the country'.
Victor was admitted to IPHB on June 11, 2008 and his illness was diagnosed as substance induced psychotic disorder. At IPHB, Victor kept repeating that he doesn't want to leave the country, "because he loves India". His visa expired in September 2007.
IPHB medical superintendent B S Cuncoliencar said, "He was admitted to the hospital for observation and treatment. Days before his discharge we informed Calangute police that the patient was fit to be discharged. But there was no response and as the doctor treating him gave a certificate stating that he is fit for discharge, we discharged him".
Incidentally, the Goa police was aware that the IPHB had decided to discharge Victor, as indicated by a letter written by SP (FRO) to the Russian authorities in November 2008, with a request to urgently repatriate Victor. The SP (FRO) wrote, "The office is now in receipt of letter from PI Calangute, wherein it is informed that the foreign national is now fit for discharge and doesn't require further hospitalization and requested to take his custody back".
The letter added, "To urgently take up repatriation of the Russian national or the representative of the Russian embassy in Goa may be urgently contacted and directed to take custody of the foreign national and necessary arrangements be made to repatriate the foreign national to his own country". But neither the police nor the Russian authorities took custody of Victor.
Said an official from FRO, "The process of Victor's repatriation is on. After he was discharged from IPHB, his present whereabouts are not known. The minute he is traced we will proceed with repatriation. We have flashed wireless messages to all police stations and asked them to provide information on his whereabouts".
Police sources said that he was admitted to the IPHB following a complaint from the Calangute police that an "unknown male, appearing to be a foreigner giving all vague answers, of unsound mind was wandering in the market and creating a nuisance in public places." He was first picked up by the Mapusa police for being a "public nuisance" and admitted to the IPHB in March, 2008, for almost 25 days. Later in April he was picked up by the Calangute police and sent to the IPHB. He was again picked up by the Calangute police in June.
20 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Saturday, July 18, 2009
DNA test lands 'rape victim' in a spot
DNA test lands 'rape victim' in a spot
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: One year after a 26-year-old girl from Vasco alleged she was raped by a neighbour and that she had subsequently given birth to his child,
DNA tests
have revealed the accused did not father the child. The police now want to initiate action against the complainant for lodging a false complaint.
A letter dated June 30, 2009 sent to the girl by Vasco police states, “I am to inform you that your complaint has transpired to be false. It is being considered whether action should be taken against you for lodging of false complaint.”
Sources reveal the police have also written to the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Vasco, to close the case and have sought permission to prosecute the girl for filing a false complaint. Sources said, “It was decided to close the case and prosecute the girl for filing a false complaint as the report of the DNA test to determine whether the accused was the biological father of the baby born to the girl came negative.”
The girl has also received a letter from the Vasco JMFC informing her that a final report has been filed by the police and to appear before the court for grant of desummary (to close the case due to lack of evidence) or to file objections.
The girl’s advocate, Amey Prabhudessai, confirmed receipt of the letters. Police records reveal that in her complaint the girl said that the accused, Andrew D’Cunha, had called her to his house in his mother’s absence and had allegedly repeatedly raped her on April 7, 2007. A police complaint was lodged 11 months later on March 19, 2008 and a case of rape registered.
The girl had said that she hadn’t filed a complaint till then as the boy had allegedly threatened her. It was only on learning that she was pregnant in December 2007 and after a child was born that she approached the police with the complaint.
Initially, the police weren’t able to trace the accused, but in August 2008 he surrendered. Later, the girl, the child and the boy were subjected to DNA tests at GMC which revealed that D’Cunha was not the child’s biological father.
18 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: One year after a 26-year-old girl from Vasco alleged she was raped by a neighbour and that she had subsequently given birth to his child,
DNA tests
have revealed the accused did not father the child. The police now want to initiate action against the complainant for lodging a false complaint.
A letter dated June 30, 2009 sent to the girl by Vasco police states, “I am to inform you that your complaint has transpired to be false. It is being considered whether action should be taken against you for lodging of false complaint.”
Sources reveal the police have also written to the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Vasco, to close the case and have sought permission to prosecute the girl for filing a false complaint. Sources said, “It was decided to close the case and prosecute the girl for filing a false complaint as the report of the DNA test to determine whether the accused was the biological father of the baby born to the girl came negative.”
The girl has also received a letter from the Vasco JMFC informing her that a final report has been filed by the police and to appear before the court for grant of desummary (to close the case due to lack of evidence) or to file objections.
The girl’s advocate, Amey Prabhudessai, confirmed receipt of the letters. Police records reveal that in her complaint the girl said that the accused, Andrew D’Cunha, had called her to his house in his mother’s absence and had allegedly repeatedly raped her on April 7, 2007. A police complaint was lodged 11 months later on March 19, 2008 and a case of rape registered.
The girl had said that she hadn’t filed a complaint till then as the boy had allegedly threatened her. It was only on learning that she was pregnant in December 2007 and after a child was born that she approached the police with the complaint.
Initially, the police weren’t able to trace the accused, but in August 2008 he surrendered. Later, the girl, the child and the boy were subjected to DNA tests at GMC which revealed that D’Cunha was not the child’s biological father.
18 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Cops refuse to hand over bodies of Russian duo
Cops refuse to hand over bodies of Russian duo
TNN
PANAJI: The Goa police have refused to hand over the bodies of two Russian teenagers, who were found murdered at Vagator in November 2007, to the
consulate general of the Russian Federation in Mumbai.
Anton Prosnyakov, who had gone missing in November 2007, had arrived in New Delhi from Russia on August 25, 2007 on a tourist visa along with his girlfriend Marina Pulina, 22.
They travelled to Srinagar, Leh, Mumbai and finally landed in Goa in October. They initially stayed at Vagator and then moved to Chapora. With no news from their son for a long time, Anton's parents lodged a complaint with the foreign affairs ministry of the Russian Federation saying that their son had gone missing since November 2007.
Though the DNA and super imposition' tests have confirmed that the decomposed body of the man, found in the bushes at Vagator, was that of Anton's, the parents will have write a letter to the Russian counsulate requesting that the body be handed over to them. The letter will also have to be forwarded to the Goa police.
"We cannot hand over the bodies to the consulate without the parents' consent. What if the consulate disposes the bodies and the parents approach us thereafter? Let the parents write to us through the consulate and let the consulate attach the request letter of the parents to theirs. Only then will we hand over the bodies," SP (foreigners registration office) Tony Fernandes said.
After the police informed the Russian consulate that the body was identified, the consulate told the Goa police that the family wished to take possession of whatever was left of the bodies in order to perform the final rites in Russia.
18 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN
PANAJI: The Goa police have refused to hand over the bodies of two Russian teenagers, who were found murdered at Vagator in November 2007, to the
consulate general of the Russian Federation in Mumbai.
Anton Prosnyakov, who had gone missing in November 2007, had arrived in New Delhi from Russia on August 25, 2007 on a tourist visa along with his girlfriend Marina Pulina, 22.
They travelled to Srinagar, Leh, Mumbai and finally landed in Goa in October. They initially stayed at Vagator and then moved to Chapora. With no news from their son for a long time, Anton's parents lodged a complaint with the foreign affairs ministry of the Russian Federation saying that their son had gone missing since November 2007.
Though the DNA and super imposition' tests have confirmed that the decomposed body of the man, found in the bushes at Vagator, was that of Anton's, the parents will have write a letter to the Russian counsulate requesting that the body be handed over to them. The letter will also have to be forwarded to the Goa police.
"We cannot hand over the bodies to the consulate without the parents' consent. What if the consulate disposes the bodies and the parents approach us thereafter? Let the parents write to us through the consulate and let the consulate attach the request letter of the parents to theirs. Only then will we hand over the bodies," SP (foreigners registration office) Tony Fernandes said.
After the police informed the Russian consulate that the body was identified, the consulate told the Goa police that the family wished to take possession of whatever was left of the bodies in order to perform the final rites in Russia.
18 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
INSAS rifles to give police more fire power
INSAS rifles to give police more fire power
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: The Goa government finally seems to have woken up to the need of modernizing its police force. About 100 INSAS rifles have been procured
as part of the plan to phase out the 3000-odd vintage .303 rifles the force had been using so far.
However, some hiccups in the transition process still remain. Although Goa has the guns, it does not have the ammunition. The guns arrived last month, but lay unused till last week until the state government received "on loan" a consignment of ammunition from the Delhi police. Following this, the guns have been distributed to various police stations and units so that their personnel could be trained in handling the weapon.
Officials in charge of the modernization process played down the lack of ammunition and said that things would be sorted out soon. "Requisitions for the ammunition have already been placed and it's a matter of time before the bullets arrive," they said.
Panaji, Calangute, Anjuna, Pernem and Porvorim police stations in North Goa and Vasco, Colva, Margao, Verna, Cuncolim and Canacona in South Goa have received the rifles, procured at a cost of about Rs 10 lakh. "We have received the INSAS assault rifles, some of which we have distributed. Now we are in the process of training our policemen in handling the gun," said Goa police's official spokesperson SP (intelligence) A V Deshpande.
The state's security is being beefed up after a confidential police department note said that the police needed to be on guard "in view of the prevailing situation in the country, intelligence inputs regarding terror threats to states on the western coast of India" and possible trouble during "the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations".
In view of the threat perception, SDPOs and police inspectors of both districts have been directed to conduct regular checks at strategic points, especially at night, to prevent the movement of suspicious persons and arms and ammunition.
They have also been asked to step up patrolling at vital installations, railway stations, bus stands and other important places. The police have also increased their coordination with fishermen, hoteliers, cyber cafe and PCO owners and taxi operators, sensitizing them about the security measures.
Beat officers have been asked to check hotels, guest houses, cyber cafes and PCOs in their area at regular intervals, said police sources. Besides tenant verification, the police have been instructed to take action against those landlords who have failed to furnish tenant details.
15 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: The Goa government finally seems to have woken up to the need of modernizing its police force. About 100 INSAS rifles have been procured
as part of the plan to phase out the 3000-odd vintage .303 rifles the force had been using so far.
However, some hiccups in the transition process still remain. Although Goa has the guns, it does not have the ammunition. The guns arrived last month, but lay unused till last week until the state government received "on loan" a consignment of ammunition from the Delhi police. Following this, the guns have been distributed to various police stations and units so that their personnel could be trained in handling the weapon.
Officials in charge of the modernization process played down the lack of ammunition and said that things would be sorted out soon. "Requisitions for the ammunition have already been placed and it's a matter of time before the bullets arrive," they said.
Panaji, Calangute, Anjuna, Pernem and Porvorim police stations in North Goa and Vasco, Colva, Margao, Verna, Cuncolim and Canacona in South Goa have received the rifles, procured at a cost of about Rs 10 lakh. "We have received the INSAS assault rifles, some of which we have distributed. Now we are in the process of training our policemen in handling the gun," said Goa police's official spokesperson SP (intelligence) A V Deshpande.
The state's security is being beefed up after a confidential police department note said that the police needed to be on guard "in view of the prevailing situation in the country, intelligence inputs regarding terror threats to states on the western coast of India" and possible trouble during "the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations".
In view of the threat perception, SDPOs and police inspectors of both districts have been directed to conduct regular checks at strategic points, especially at night, to prevent the movement of suspicious persons and arms and ammunition.
They have also been asked to step up patrolling at vital installations, railway stations, bus stands and other important places. The police have also increased their coordination with fishermen, hoteliers, cyber cafe and PCO owners and taxi operators, sensitizing them about the security measures.
Beat officers have been asked to check hotels, guest houses, cyber cafes and PCOs in their area at regular intervals, said police sources. Besides tenant verification, the police have been instructed to take action against those landlords who have failed to furnish tenant details.
15 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Five swine flu suspects sent home with medicine
Five swine flu suspects sent home with medicine
Preetu Nair
Panaji:Five persons suspected to be suffering with swine flu were sent home by doctors on Friday with Tamiflu tablets as there was no place for them at the isolation ward of Chicalim's cottage hospital.
Four of those sent back are relatives of the 31 year old seafarer who remains quarantined in the isolation ward of Chicalim cottage hospital, while the other is a 30 year old man from Ponda who arrived from Germany. The seafarer's wife has been quarantined in the female isolation ward of Chicalim.
When contacted, state epidemiologist Dr Rajendra Tamba said, “On Friday we got 6 suspected cases of swine flu. We have sent their throat swab samples for blood test and taken necessary precautions.” The blood samples of the suspected patients have been sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), New Delhi.
Sources in the health department said that with number of swine flu cases on a high, the directorate of health services plans to soon vacate the 70-bedded cottage hospital and make it into a quarantine facility.
The patients were sent back, despite the ministry of health and family welfare in a letter to the state government dated April 28 , 2009 stating :'Any suspected cluster of influenza like illness needs to be investigated by the state rapid response teams and managed in an isolation facilities with strict infection control practises."
Sources revealed there are two isolation wards, with three beds each at the Chicalim hospital. While in the female ward, the 31 year old seafarer's wife has been quarantined, sources said that there were not enough beds to keep the five male patients suspected to have swine flu. Besides, doctors at the Chicalim were hesitant to quarantine a suspected patient along with a confirmed patient.
Sources said that with the number of swine flu cases on a high, the health department plans to vacate the cottage hospital and turn it into a quarantine facility.
Indian government guidelines state that there have to be dedicated doctors, nurses and paramedical workers for swine flu patients. In Goa, there are currently only a doctor and a nurse at the Chicalim hospital taking care of the all patients, including those with swine flu.
Health officials are looking out for people who have come in contact with the seafarer."He us a highly infectious patient. Five of his relatives who came in contact with him are suspected of swine flu. When he went to Goa Medical College's casualty, he was there for almost an hour, coughing. Instead of taking his swab samples in Goa Medical College , the patient was sent to Chicalim by bus," said sources.
July 11,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition, FP
Preetu Nair
Panaji:Five persons suspected to be suffering with swine flu were sent home by doctors on Friday with Tamiflu tablets as there was no place for them at the isolation ward of Chicalim's cottage hospital.
Four of those sent back are relatives of the 31 year old seafarer who remains quarantined in the isolation ward of Chicalim cottage hospital, while the other is a 30 year old man from Ponda who arrived from Germany. The seafarer's wife has been quarantined in the female isolation ward of Chicalim.
When contacted, state epidemiologist Dr Rajendra Tamba said, “On Friday we got 6 suspected cases of swine flu. We have sent their throat swab samples for blood test and taken necessary precautions.” The blood samples of the suspected patients have been sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), New Delhi.
Sources in the health department said that with number of swine flu cases on a high, the directorate of health services plans to soon vacate the 70-bedded cottage hospital and make it into a quarantine facility.
The patients were sent back, despite the ministry of health and family welfare in a letter to the state government dated April 28 , 2009 stating :'Any suspected cluster of influenza like illness needs to be investigated by the state rapid response teams and managed in an isolation facilities with strict infection control practises."
Sources revealed there are two isolation wards, with three beds each at the Chicalim hospital. While in the female ward, the 31 year old seafarer's wife has been quarantined, sources said that there were not enough beds to keep the five male patients suspected to have swine flu. Besides, doctors at the Chicalim were hesitant to quarantine a suspected patient along with a confirmed patient.
Sources said that with the number of swine flu cases on a high, the health department plans to vacate the cottage hospital and turn it into a quarantine facility.
Indian government guidelines state that there have to be dedicated doctors, nurses and paramedical workers for swine flu patients. In Goa, there are currently only a doctor and a nurse at the Chicalim hospital taking care of the all patients, including those with swine flu.
Health officials are looking out for people who have come in contact with the seafarer."He us a highly infectious patient. Five of his relatives who came in contact with him are suspected of swine flu. When he went to Goa Medical College's casualty, he was there for almost an hour, coughing. Instead of taking his swab samples in Goa Medical College , the patient was sent to Chicalim by bus," said sources.
July 11,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition, FP
Monday, July 13, 2009
Nexus between traffickers and cops: NGO
Nexus between traffickers and cops: NGO
TNN
PANAJI: If you thought that police constable Rajesh Sawant from Pernem police station, who has been suspended for his alleged role in a
prostitution racket in Pernem, is one rare policeman who approached a middleman of a prostitution racket and not only demanded money for permitting the prostitution racket, but also asked for a girl for himself, then think again .
A recently conducted study on the prostitution phenomenon in Goa, particularly post demolition of the red light area at Baina and closure of dance bars in Mumbai, has revealed that there is a nexus between traffickers and police. The study conducted by NGO Arz, that works with trafficked victims, was released in June 2009.
Sample these cases:
Six girls were rescued sometime ago by the police after raiding a lodge at Porvorim. The girls said that they had obtained the mobile number of an agent named Shiva, originally from Kerala, who was doing business in Goa through their (the girls) agents and customers in Bombay. These girls revealed that in the past when they were caught by the police at discotheques or beaches, they were released by the police after speaking to Shiva over the phone. The girls added that this time they had been raided as Shiva had failed to pay the monthly bribe amounting between Rs 5 and Rs 6 lakh a month to avoid raids.
A known supplier of girls in Pernem taluka used to keep young girls, including minors, in his own house. His neighbour complained to the police about these activities, resulting in the police raiding the house and rescuing two girls. But as the supplier was friendly with the police, he was let off.
Four young girls trafficked to Goa by an agent for commercial sex work were rescued' in a police raid in September 2007 from a bungalow in Mapusa. The police first demanded Rs 50,000 in cash if they wanted to be let off scott free without a case, which they thought the agent would arrange. In fact, the driver who was also in the bungalow agreed to give Rs 30,000 and asked if he could phone the agent to arrange for the remaining amount. There were only 2 male policemen during the rescue and they did not allow calls. They started seizing mobiles, and then took the women one by one to the room and touched their private parts in the name of investigation. They were then taken to the Mapusa police station.
"There is a close nexus between traffickers and the police. This existed in the red-light area and continues to exist in Goa. Once caught by the police, the perpetrators only change the location of their operation but do not give up business. In some cases, it is intensified in terms of increase in the number of girls, more contacts in the flesh trade, more police and political linkages," said Arun Pandey, director, Arz.
However, police spokesperson SP AV Deshpande said, "As and when a matter is brought to our notice, we take necessary action."
12 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN
PANAJI: If you thought that police constable Rajesh Sawant from Pernem police station, who has been suspended for his alleged role in a
prostitution racket in Pernem, is one rare policeman who approached a middleman of a prostitution racket and not only demanded money for permitting the prostitution racket, but also asked for a girl for himself, then think again .
A recently conducted study on the prostitution phenomenon in Goa, particularly post demolition of the red light area at Baina and closure of dance bars in Mumbai, has revealed that there is a nexus between traffickers and police. The study conducted by NGO Arz, that works with trafficked victims, was released in June 2009.
Sample these cases:
Six girls were rescued sometime ago by the police after raiding a lodge at Porvorim. The girls said that they had obtained the mobile number of an agent named Shiva, originally from Kerala, who was doing business in Goa through their (the girls) agents and customers in Bombay. These girls revealed that in the past when they were caught by the police at discotheques or beaches, they were released by the police after speaking to Shiva over the phone. The girls added that this time they had been raided as Shiva had failed to pay the monthly bribe amounting between Rs 5 and Rs 6 lakh a month to avoid raids.
A known supplier of girls in Pernem taluka used to keep young girls, including minors, in his own house. His neighbour complained to the police about these activities, resulting in the police raiding the house and rescuing two girls. But as the supplier was friendly with the police, he was let off.
Four young girls trafficked to Goa by an agent for commercial sex work were rescued' in a police raid in September 2007 from a bungalow in Mapusa. The police first demanded Rs 50,000 in cash if they wanted to be let off scott free without a case, which they thought the agent would arrange. In fact, the driver who was also in the bungalow agreed to give Rs 30,000 and asked if he could phone the agent to arrange for the remaining amount. There were only 2 male policemen during the rescue and they did not allow calls. They started seizing mobiles, and then took the women one by one to the room and touched their private parts in the name of investigation. They were then taken to the Mapusa police station.
"There is a close nexus between traffickers and the police. This existed in the red-light area and continues to exist in Goa. Once caught by the police, the perpetrators only change the location of their operation but do not give up business. In some cases, it is intensified in terms of increase in the number of girls, more contacts in the flesh trade, more police and political linkages," said Arun Pandey, director, Arz.
However, police spokesperson SP AV Deshpande said, "As and when a matter is brought to our notice, we take necessary action."
12 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Apna Ghar official suspended
Apna Ghar official suspended
TNN
PANAJI: The women and child department has suspended the superintendent of Apna Ghar, Merces, and initiated disciplinary proceedings against
her.
The director of the women and child department, Sumedha Bolekar, confirmed that the superintendent, Sumedha Bolekar, has been suspended. He, however, refused to give the reason behind the move.
Sources said that the department was facing constant embarrassment as juveniles housed there often fled from the home. The escapees, when caught, would always complain of ill-treatment at Apna Ghar.
10 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN
PANAJI: The women and child department has suspended the superintendent of Apna Ghar, Merces, and initiated disciplinary proceedings against
her.
The director of the women and child department, Sumedha Bolekar, confirmed that the superintendent, Sumedha Bolekar, has been suspended. He, however, refused to give the reason behind the move.
Sources said that the department was facing constant embarrassment as juveniles housed there often fled from the home. The escapees, when caught, would always complain of ill-treatment at Apna Ghar.
10 July 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Friday, July 10, 2009
Activists smell a rat in law on health estates
Activists smell a rat in law on health estates
TNN,
PANAJI: The recently notified Goa Health Services Development Act, 2008, gives overriding powers to the Goa Health Services Development
Corporation to issue directions to local authorities to grant permission to new health estates.
The Act allows the corporation to acquire land and says, “any land required by the corporation for carrying out any of its functions shall be deemed to be needed for a public purpose”. Further, the corporation will have the powers to lease, sell, exchange or transfer property held by it and declares that anyone found guilty of attempting to stop work in a health estate will attract a penalty or imprisonment.
The Act defines a “health estate” as any area declared to be a health estate by a notification in the official gazette, which is to be developed and where health establishments are to be accommodated. Activists, however, allege that health estates are nothing but a ploy to develop real estate in the state by keeping the people out of the planning process. “This is being done to take away the little power panchayats have and develop real estate. They are trying to stifle the people’s voice.
Politicians have ruined the cities and towns, and now they will destroy the villages. The government is not with the people and is doing destructive development, with complete disregard for people’s opinion,” alleged Ganv Ghor Rakhon Manch spokesperson Geraldine Fernandes.
The Act states that “if the government is satisfied either on a recommendation made in this behalf by the corporation or otherwise, that the setting up of a health undertaking is impeded by a local authority’s refusal to grant or by such authority’s insistence on conditions which the government considers unreasonable for the grant of any amenity, the government may direct the local authority to grant the said amenity”.
Goa Bachao Abhiyan convenor Sabina Martins counters this saying, “Anybody’s land can be acquired for the health estate because it will be deemed to have been acquired for public purpose. We opposed section 16, 16 (a) of the Town and Country Planning Act as it keeps public-private partnerships and government projects outside the purview of the regional plan process. This notification contains clauses taking away the powers of the panchayat and people to object or agree to a health estate.”
Health minister Vishwajit Rane, however, denies any hidden agenda. “There is no land scam here. It is an old plan, formulated when present opposition leader Manohar Parrikar was chief minister. The Act has been deliberated on in the assembly and passed to provide the best health facilities to the people and in the interest of the people.”
The only relief is that the government shall not issue directions unless the local authority has been given an opportunity to show cause why such a direction should not be made. Rane, however, said the corporation won’t be acquiring any land, but using the 2-3 lakh sq m of land already in its possession. “It is a rocky terrain at Kadamba plateau, which was in the government’s possession and has been transferred to the corporation,” said Rane.
Assuring that the health estate would be a health hub offering health facilities to the people and providing allied services such as a nursing college or EMRI advance paramedic centre, Rane said, “It is not going to be a five-star residential complex. It is going to be purely a place to provide health facilities or allied activities to benefit the people of Goa. I will do what my conscience permits and as advised by the health advisory council.”
The notification further states that any person obstructing the entry of an authorised person into any land, molesting such a person or obstructing work shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or both.
Besides, anyone removing a mark set up for the purpose of indicating any level, boundary line, or direction necessary to execute works authorised under the Act shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with a fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or with both.
Advocate and activist Satish Sonak said, “A government needs to put such clauses and penalties when they fail to understand the popular view point and want to suppress people’s opinion by using the law as a rod. This is done to put fear in people’s hearts and shows that the government has lost faith in its ability to convince the people. The government may make laws, but if I am convinced that wrong is being done, I am willing to break the law and bear punishment for the same,” said advocate Satish Sonak.
10 July, The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN,
PANAJI: The recently notified Goa Health Services Development Act, 2008, gives overriding powers to the Goa Health Services Development
Corporation to issue directions to local authorities to grant permission to new health estates.
The Act allows the corporation to acquire land and says, “any land required by the corporation for carrying out any of its functions shall be deemed to be needed for a public purpose”. Further, the corporation will have the powers to lease, sell, exchange or transfer property held by it and declares that anyone found guilty of attempting to stop work in a health estate will attract a penalty or imprisonment.
The Act defines a “health estate” as any area declared to be a health estate by a notification in the official gazette, which is to be developed and where health establishments are to be accommodated. Activists, however, allege that health estates are nothing but a ploy to develop real estate in the state by keeping the people out of the planning process. “This is being done to take away the little power panchayats have and develop real estate. They are trying to stifle the people’s voice.
Politicians have ruined the cities and towns, and now they will destroy the villages. The government is not with the people and is doing destructive development, with complete disregard for people’s opinion,” alleged Ganv Ghor Rakhon Manch spokesperson Geraldine Fernandes.
The Act states that “if the government is satisfied either on a recommendation made in this behalf by the corporation or otherwise, that the setting up of a health undertaking is impeded by a local authority’s refusal to grant or by such authority’s insistence on conditions which the government considers unreasonable for the grant of any amenity, the government may direct the local authority to grant the said amenity”.
Goa Bachao Abhiyan convenor Sabina Martins counters this saying, “Anybody’s land can be acquired for the health estate because it will be deemed to have been acquired for public purpose. We opposed section 16, 16 (a) of the Town and Country Planning Act as it keeps public-private partnerships and government projects outside the purview of the regional plan process. This notification contains clauses taking away the powers of the panchayat and people to object or agree to a health estate.”
Health minister Vishwajit Rane, however, denies any hidden agenda. “There is no land scam here. It is an old plan, formulated when present opposition leader Manohar Parrikar was chief minister. The Act has been deliberated on in the assembly and passed to provide the best health facilities to the people and in the interest of the people.”
The only relief is that the government shall not issue directions unless the local authority has been given an opportunity to show cause why such a direction should not be made. Rane, however, said the corporation won’t be acquiring any land, but using the 2-3 lakh sq m of land already in its possession. “It is a rocky terrain at Kadamba plateau, which was in the government’s possession and has been transferred to the corporation,” said Rane.
Assuring that the health estate would be a health hub offering health facilities to the people and providing allied services such as a nursing college or EMRI advance paramedic centre, Rane said, “It is not going to be a five-star residential complex. It is going to be purely a place to provide health facilities or allied activities to benefit the people of Goa. I will do what my conscience permits and as advised by the health advisory council.”
The notification further states that any person obstructing the entry of an authorised person into any land, molesting such a person or obstructing work shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or both.
Besides, anyone removing a mark set up for the purpose of indicating any level, boundary line, or direction necessary to execute works authorised under the Act shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with a fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or with both.
Advocate and activist Satish Sonak said, “A government needs to put such clauses and penalties when they fail to understand the popular view point and want to suppress people’s opinion by using the law as a rod. This is done to put fear in people’s hearts and shows that the government has lost faith in its ability to convince the people. The government may make laws, but if I am convinced that wrong is being done, I am willing to break the law and bear punishment for the same,” said advocate Satish Sonak.
10 July, The Times of India, Goa edition
Thursday, July 09, 2009
If you are a victim of gossip mongers, apple polishers and stool pigeons? Share your experience...
If you are a victim of gossip mongers, apple polishers and stool pigeons? Share your experience
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Goa CHCs lack basic c-section facilities
Goa CHCs lack basic c-section facilities
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: While the Goa government crows about it’s ‘top-notch’ healthcare facilities, a recent survey found that 80% of the community health
centres (CHC), first referral units (FRU) in an emergency, are not equipped to conduct even a simple caesarean section. The survey found that only one CHC, of five in the state, has a qualified gyneacologist able to perform a caesarean.
The survey was conducted in 2007-08 and health director Dr Rajnanda Dessai says there have been changes since then. “The situation has improved and we now have gyneacologists in most CHCs. A caesarean is, however, not done at CHCs due to certain inherent factors.”
The ‘inherent factors’, include the lack of a blood storage facility and the non-availability of an anaesthetist. Sources also say there are times when doctors
at CHCs don’t want to take the risk.
The survey, conducted in 2007-08, found that though three CHCs had a functional operation theatre, only one, Ponda CHC, had a general surgeon and though they have been designated as FRUs, none had facilities to store blood.
Dessai, however, assured that this would change. “We are working on improving the situation,” she said.
There are, however, no caesareans performed at primary health centres (PHC) as these do not have a gyneacologist.
Though normal births are possible at CHCs 24 hours a day, the average number of deliveries a month at all CHCs are 60 and at PHCs even less, at 30. Compared to this, Goa medical college and hospital on an average conducts 123 deliveries a month.
June 27,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition, Page 1
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: While the Goa government crows about it’s ‘top-notch’ healthcare facilities, a recent survey found that 80% of the community health
centres (CHC), first referral units (FRU) in an emergency, are not equipped to conduct even a simple caesarean section. The survey found that only one CHC, of five in the state, has a qualified gyneacologist able to perform a caesarean.
The survey was conducted in 2007-08 and health director Dr Rajnanda Dessai says there have been changes since then. “The situation has improved and we now have gyneacologists in most CHCs. A caesarean is, however, not done at CHCs due to certain inherent factors.”
The ‘inherent factors’, include the lack of a blood storage facility and the non-availability of an anaesthetist. Sources also say there are times when doctors
at CHCs don’t want to take the risk.
The survey, conducted in 2007-08, found that though three CHCs had a functional operation theatre, only one, Ponda CHC, had a general surgeon and though they have been designated as FRUs, none had facilities to store blood.
Dessai, however, assured that this would change. “We are working on improving the situation,” she said.
There are, however, no caesareans performed at primary health centres (PHC) as these do not have a gyneacologist.
Though normal births are possible at CHCs 24 hours a day, the average number of deliveries a month at all CHCs are 60 and at PHCs even less, at 30. Compared to this, Goa medical college and hospital on an average conducts 123 deliveries a month.
June 27,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition, Page 1
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Three year old rape returns to haunt minor
Three year old rape returns to haunt minor
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: Just when a 11-year-old girl was beginning to overcome the damaging effects of a rape four years earlier, she has been stunned with the
knowledge that she has tested positive for HIV. The girl had been allegedly raped by her neighbour in June 2005.
The family suspects that her rapist, out on bail, may have infected their little girl. "I am told that there is a myth that HIV/AIDS sufferers can be cured if they have sex with a virgin. My daughter seems to a victim of one such false belief," the victim's father said.
The girl's recent discharge card from a paediatric consultant at Goa medical college and hospital states, "Due to sexual abuse the case was made MLC (medico-legal case) and a police statement taken." The girl had been admitted to the hospital on June 8 as she was running a fever and feeling weak. Tests conducted on her revealed TB and HIV.
Incidentally, though the Vasco police had registered the case and arrested the accused, one Ramesh Lamani, they had later closed the case as A-final (due to lack of medical evidence) and on the prosecution director's opinion, hadn't filed a chargesheet in the case. Subsequently, the accused was released on bail and investigations were closed in August 2006.
However, the matter is still pending before the JMFC, Vasco. "The court has so far not accepted the police decision. It now has the powers to reject the police decision and ask us to investigate," said a police official. Meanwhile, Vasco police have again recorded the minor's statement in the hospital.
The victim alleged that the accused had unprotected sex with her at his home in June 2006. She can't recollect the date on which she was raped, but remembers that it was drizzling. She was nine years old when her "friendly" neighbour raped her violently.
"He held my hands, restrained me and had forcible intercourse with me. The attack was so violent, that I screamed in pain and for help. But he pressed a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me and my family. I was scared," said the girl, who weighs less than 25 kg.
The incident sent the girl into a shell for more than a month and she revealed about the attack almost a month and a half later, following which the family lodged a police complaint on July 18, 2005 and the accused arrested.
"My parents were out of station when the incident happened. My little sister went into a shell and only when coaxed revealed that she was raped by our neighbour. She maintained a silence as he had threatened to kill my parents," said the victim's elder sister, explaining the delay in lodging the police complaint.
The minor's family now want that the police arrest the accused and test him for HIV. They have also contacted child activists for help.
The girl's father said that after the incident, his daughter was continuously ill and due to weakness had to drop out of school. "In the last few months, her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. She was detected with HIV and the doctors even tested us for HIV. But as our reports were negative, the doctors at GMC coaxed my daughter and she spoke the truth," said the father.
June 24,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition, Page 1
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: Just when a 11-year-old girl was beginning to overcome the damaging effects of a rape four years earlier, she has been stunned with the
knowledge that she has tested positive for HIV. The girl had been allegedly raped by her neighbour in June 2005.
The family suspects that her rapist, out on bail, may have infected their little girl. "I am told that there is a myth that HIV/AIDS sufferers can be cured if they have sex with a virgin. My daughter seems to a victim of one such false belief," the victim's father said.
The girl's recent discharge card from a paediatric consultant at Goa medical college and hospital states, "Due to sexual abuse the case was made MLC (medico-legal case) and a police statement taken." The girl had been admitted to the hospital on June 8 as she was running a fever and feeling weak. Tests conducted on her revealed TB and HIV.
Incidentally, though the Vasco police had registered the case and arrested the accused, one Ramesh Lamani, they had later closed the case as A-final (due to lack of medical evidence) and on the prosecution director's opinion, hadn't filed a chargesheet in the case. Subsequently, the accused was released on bail and investigations were closed in August 2006.
However, the matter is still pending before the JMFC, Vasco. "The court has so far not accepted the police decision. It now has the powers to reject the police decision and ask us to investigate," said a police official. Meanwhile, Vasco police have again recorded the minor's statement in the hospital.
The victim alleged that the accused had unprotected sex with her at his home in June 2006. She can't recollect the date on which she was raped, but remembers that it was drizzling. She was nine years old when her "friendly" neighbour raped her violently.
"He held my hands, restrained me and had forcible intercourse with me. The attack was so violent, that I screamed in pain and for help. But he pressed a knife to my throat and threatened to kill me and my family. I was scared," said the girl, who weighs less than 25 kg.
The incident sent the girl into a shell for more than a month and she revealed about the attack almost a month and a half later, following which the family lodged a police complaint on July 18, 2005 and the accused arrested.
"My parents were out of station when the incident happened. My little sister went into a shell and only when coaxed revealed that she was raped by our neighbour. She maintained a silence as he had threatened to kill my parents," said the victim's elder sister, explaining the delay in lodging the police complaint.
The minor's family now want that the police arrest the accused and test him for HIV. They have also contacted child activists for help.
The girl's father said that after the incident, his daughter was continuously ill and due to weakness had to drop out of school. "In the last few months, her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. She was detected with HIV and the doctors even tested us for HIV. But as our reports were negative, the doctors at GMC coaxed my daughter and she spoke the truth," said the father.
June 24,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition, Page 1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
