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
Sunday, July 26, 2009
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
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The expanding red light district
The expanding red light district
Preetu Nair, TNN
From massage parlours to fishing trawlers, highways to starred hotels, migrants to Goan girls, after the tearing down of Baina's red light area, trafficking in Goa has undergone a sea change, reports Preetu Nair
* In the last three raids on massage parlours in Porvorim, Mapusa and Arpora, police rescued four Goans. The girls had joined the parlours for "better pay" and "a better future".
* Sudha, 16, a school dropout from Sanvordem wanted fancy mobiles, money to spend on clothes, food and friends. Traffickers would lure her with the promise of a mobile phone every night for serveral months. She was later rescued from a hotel in Margao and the traffickers arrested.
* Three young girlsa Kannadiga, Manipuri and Goanwere recently rescued from a massage parlour in Vagator. They were lured with the promise of "good money" and "promotion" after a year. The promotion included training in beauty treatment and a near doubling of salary to between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000.
Five years after bulldozers razed Baina's red light area in the state's port town of Vasco, the mode and form of trafficking has changed.
Baina's dingy rooms have given way to fancy cubicles in massage parlours and air-conditioned rooms in starred hotels. Taxi drivers and motorcycle pilots as contact points have made way for waiters, chai boys and beach hawkers. The modus operandi too has adapted to the needs of the solicitors and the solicited.
Perhaps the biggest change, however, point out police and NGO sources, are the finding of local girls among those rescued.
"Goan girls are being lured, often by Goan women, with the promise of easy money and the belief that they can lead a comfortable life with less hardwork," says Auda Viegas, president, Bailancho Ekvott and member of the State Protective Home that looks after rescued trafficking victims.
With the contact point shifting from the cramped lanes in Baina to just about everywhere: beaches, parlours, hotels, lodges, bars, restaurants, streets, markets, even fishing trawlers, the modus operandi nowadays is to pre-arrange a meeting point for the customer and the girl. Alternatively, women are also sent to certain areas to directly solicit, finds a study by Baina-based NGO, Arz.
The 2007-08 study, whose findings will be released soon, focused on Goa's prostitution phenomenon after the demolition of Baina and the closure of dance bars in Mumbai. Information was collected by talking to sex workers, pimps, legislators, government authorities, hoteliers etc. The study reports that nowadays, it is not uncommon to find girls, including foreigners, soliciting on beaches, bars, restaurants, shacks and even at tourist bazaars.
Another common meeting point are night clubs where couple entry is the rule. Some girls solicit around major crossroads, traffic circles, junctions, gardens and bus stands. In Margao, Colva and other parts of Salcete taluka, women are seen soliciting on the roads, municipal garden and bus stands. Most are migrants settled in Goa, reports the study.
"After the demolition in Baina, prostitution has spread all over the state," says Dr Pramod Salgaonkar, chairperson, Goa State Commission for Women. "While middle-budget prostitution is flourishing in the tourist belt in the form of massage parlours, prostitution along highways, hotels and houses is also on the increase," she adds.
Arun Pandey of Arz, says, "The Baina demolition has led to an escalation in highway prostitution, prostitution in isolated places like jungles and prostitution in vehicles (private four wheelers)."
"There is an increased vulnerability of women and children in prostitution to forced sex acts and rapes. Clients would not be able to film prostituted women and children or have group sex in a brothel. Now this is possible," he adds.
Goa police's public information officer SP AV Deshpande calls it "old wine in a new bottle". "The business is the same. But girls are now better educated and pimps are using the latest technology to operate and attract high paying clients. The business has become more sophisticated." Moreover, new destination points for trafficking in Goa and in neighboring states have developed, he says.
As for local girls entering the trade, Dr Pramod Salgaonkar shrugs off the matter, "There are few Goan girls who are misguided and pushed into prostitution. But the number is minuscule."
Auda Viegas, emphasizes, "We have to get out of denial mode and accept that in the changing scenario our Goan girls are also being lured into commercial sex work and in most cases by Goan women. It's the lure of easy money and a false belief that it's an easy life."
(Names of trafficked victims changed)
The supply chain
Air
Upper class commercial sex workers and their clients prefer to fly into Goa. Prior to meeting, customers choose from photos shown on mobilephones by agents. The agent then makes the deal with the girl and the amount charged can go up to Rs 1 lakh per night. A part of the payment is made in advance and is immediately verified at the nearest ATM. One-way air fare is paid by the middle man who can earn as much as Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 in one deal. Hotels are avoided and girls are taken to bungalows or flats.
Train
Girls brought into Goa by train, mostly alight at Thivim and Vasco stations from where they are picked up and taken to flats. They are supplied as per demand.
Bus
Girls brought into Goa by bus get down at Mapusa, Panaji, Margao, Ponda or Bicholim bus terminii. They are then taken to other destinations by pimps.
Private vehicles
While trafficking via private vehicles, a "manager" accompanies the girls who are then handed over to the relevant person in Goa. The manager gets "good luck" moneya cash incentive that can go up to Rs 5,000 per girl. The girls are received at specific places, mostly in Mapusa and Panaji.
In such deals, the girls are taken on a "contract" basis of about Rs 25,000 for 15 days. Each girl has to entertain 8 to 12 customers per day. If a customer complains, the girl faces a financial "penalty" of up to Rs 5,000 or more.
* Information from study: Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Goa' by Baina-based NGO, ARZ
Massage parlours
Place: Mostly in the coastal belt
Operate from: Stalls erected behind beach shacks, hotels, lodges and rented houses. While some are high-class massage/beauty parlours, others operate from dingy rooms. There are registered as well as unregistered parlours that traffick. A security guard at most places facilitates entry into the parlour.
CSWs: From Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nepal. Of late, Goan girls have also been found working in such parlours.
Customers: Domestic, foreign tourists, even local youngsters have been found visiting those located in Bardez taluka.
Modus operandi: Customers do not approach massage/beauty parlours directly. They are solicited by mostly young boys. After soliciting, the customers (either alone or in groups of 2-4) are brought to the parlour via private or commercial vehicles. In a majority of cases, vans are used to transport the solicited customers.
Price: Varies from Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000
Hotels & lodges
Place: Almost everywhere in Goa
CSWs: Predominantly from Maharashtra (mainly Mumbai, Pune and Sawantwadi), Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nepal. Young, smart, modern, fashionable and Hindi-speaking girls are preferred.
Modus operandi: The girls are accommodated at the hotel or in a nearby rented house. After agents fix a deal with customers, the girls are made available. Those put up in rented premises are contacted over their mobiles and picked up from their residences.
Agents in hotels and lodges also contact girls who openly solicit in markets and beaches. On receiving the details, the girl proceeds to the hotel/lodge.
In another variant, in Bardez taluka rooms are rented to girls on an hourly basis.
Some hotel managers also have contacts with CSWs from other states in order to meet demand. If the girl does not have money to travel, she is instructed to board a particular bus where the ticket is paid for directly at the travel agency by the hotel manager. She diembarks at the said destination and is taken directly to the hotel.
Customers: Domestic and foreign tourists
Rented Rooms
Place: CSWs are kept in rented rooms and houses in villages
CSWs: From Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nepal.
Modus operandi: The girls are brought to Goa by bus or train on contracts that range from a week to a month.
In Bardez taluka, they are mostly picked up from the Mapusa bus stand or Thivim railway station.
They are not allowed to leave the rooms/houses. Whenever they are taken out, vehicles with black tinted glasses are used. After the contract period they are paid and sent back.
Fishing trawlers
Place: Fishing jetties and nearby market areas. Though entry into fishing jetties is restricted, the girls are permitted.
CSWs: Mostly from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Modus operandi: Soliciting is done by the CSW herself. The room is often a trawler anchored a distance away from the jetty.
Though cash is paid, in many cases the girl gets fish or prawns which she later sells.
Customers: Migrants from Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, who work on contract basis with trawler owners.
Brothels
Place: Baina, Vasco
Modus operandi: Customers are solicited by motorcycle pilots and taxi drivers at bus stands, railway stations, markets, gardens and brought to Baina beach.
Here, a deal is made with the madam' (brothel owner) and once finalized the girl is sent with the customer to a nearby, pre-determined room.
The amount paid is shared by the pimp, room owner, madam and the CSW. At times, the CSW is forced to solicit customers herself.
Isolated places
Place: Prime areas include the KTC bus stand, Municipal garden, Railway bridge and railway station in Vasco city. Also Sada, Bogda, the Japanese garden, Kharewada, Birla, Zuari Nagar, Verna industrial estate, Kelsim and Thane and Cortalim.
CSWs: Mostly those displaced after the demolition of the red light area in Baina.
Modus operandi: CSWs solicit customers on the roads and take them to nearby hotels, lodges or thickly forested areas.
Highways
Place: Highways passing through some of the state's interior talukas. Mostly in highly industrial and mining areas.
CSWs: Mostly from migrant populations settled in slums or rented houses.
Modus operandi: CSWs solicit at different locations along the highways. The customer is taken to a room or the girl travels to another location in the latter's vehicle.
Customers: Mostly truck drivers and helpers.
10 Jun 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
From massage parlours to fishing trawlers, highways to starred hotels, migrants to Goan girls, after the tearing down of Baina's red light area, trafficking in Goa has undergone a sea change, reports Preetu Nair
* In the last three raids on massage parlours in Porvorim, Mapusa and Arpora, police rescued four Goans. The girls had joined the parlours for "better pay" and "a better future".
* Sudha, 16, a school dropout from Sanvordem wanted fancy mobiles, money to spend on clothes, food and friends. Traffickers would lure her with the promise of a mobile phone every night for serveral months. She was later rescued from a hotel in Margao and the traffickers arrested.
* Three young girlsa Kannadiga, Manipuri and Goanwere recently rescued from a massage parlour in Vagator. They were lured with the promise of "good money" and "promotion" after a year. The promotion included training in beauty treatment and a near doubling of salary to between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000.
Five years after bulldozers razed Baina's red light area in the state's port town of Vasco, the mode and form of trafficking has changed.
Baina's dingy rooms have given way to fancy cubicles in massage parlours and air-conditioned rooms in starred hotels. Taxi drivers and motorcycle pilots as contact points have made way for waiters, chai boys and beach hawkers. The modus operandi too has adapted to the needs of the solicitors and the solicited.
Perhaps the biggest change, however, point out police and NGO sources, are the finding of local girls among those rescued.
"Goan girls are being lured, often by Goan women, with the promise of easy money and the belief that they can lead a comfortable life with less hardwork," says Auda Viegas, president, Bailancho Ekvott and member of the State Protective Home that looks after rescued trafficking victims.
With the contact point shifting from the cramped lanes in Baina to just about everywhere: beaches, parlours, hotels, lodges, bars, restaurants, streets, markets, even fishing trawlers, the modus operandi nowadays is to pre-arrange a meeting point for the customer and the girl. Alternatively, women are also sent to certain areas to directly solicit, finds a study by Baina-based NGO, Arz.
The 2007-08 study, whose findings will be released soon, focused on Goa's prostitution phenomenon after the demolition of Baina and the closure of dance bars in Mumbai. Information was collected by talking to sex workers, pimps, legislators, government authorities, hoteliers etc. The study reports that nowadays, it is not uncommon to find girls, including foreigners, soliciting on beaches, bars, restaurants, shacks and even at tourist bazaars.
Another common meeting point are night clubs where couple entry is the rule. Some girls solicit around major crossroads, traffic circles, junctions, gardens and bus stands. In Margao, Colva and other parts of Salcete taluka, women are seen soliciting on the roads, municipal garden and bus stands. Most are migrants settled in Goa, reports the study.
"After the demolition in Baina, prostitution has spread all over the state," says Dr Pramod Salgaonkar, chairperson, Goa State Commission for Women. "While middle-budget prostitution is flourishing in the tourist belt in the form of massage parlours, prostitution along highways, hotels and houses is also on the increase," she adds.
Arun Pandey of Arz, says, "The Baina demolition has led to an escalation in highway prostitution, prostitution in isolated places like jungles and prostitution in vehicles (private four wheelers)."
"There is an increased vulnerability of women and children in prostitution to forced sex acts and rapes. Clients would not be able to film prostituted women and children or have group sex in a brothel. Now this is possible," he adds.
Goa police's public information officer SP AV Deshpande calls it "old wine in a new bottle". "The business is the same. But girls are now better educated and pimps are using the latest technology to operate and attract high paying clients. The business has become more sophisticated." Moreover, new destination points for trafficking in Goa and in neighboring states have developed, he says.
As for local girls entering the trade, Dr Pramod Salgaonkar shrugs off the matter, "There are few Goan girls who are misguided and pushed into prostitution. But the number is minuscule."
Auda Viegas, emphasizes, "We have to get out of denial mode and accept that in the changing scenario our Goan girls are also being lured into commercial sex work and in most cases by Goan women. It's the lure of easy money and a false belief that it's an easy life."
(Names of trafficked victims changed)
The supply chain
Air
Upper class commercial sex workers and their clients prefer to fly into Goa. Prior to meeting, customers choose from photos shown on mobilephones by agents. The agent then makes the deal with the girl and the amount charged can go up to Rs 1 lakh per night. A part of the payment is made in advance and is immediately verified at the nearest ATM. One-way air fare is paid by the middle man who can earn as much as Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 in one deal. Hotels are avoided and girls are taken to bungalows or flats.
Train
Girls brought into Goa by train, mostly alight at Thivim and Vasco stations from where they are picked up and taken to flats. They are supplied as per demand.
Bus
Girls brought into Goa by bus get down at Mapusa, Panaji, Margao, Ponda or Bicholim bus terminii. They are then taken to other destinations by pimps.
Private vehicles
While trafficking via private vehicles, a "manager" accompanies the girls who are then handed over to the relevant person in Goa. The manager gets "good luck" moneya cash incentive that can go up to Rs 5,000 per girl. The girls are received at specific places, mostly in Mapusa and Panaji.
In such deals, the girls are taken on a "contract" basis of about Rs 25,000 for 15 days. Each girl has to entertain 8 to 12 customers per day. If a customer complains, the girl faces a financial "penalty" of up to Rs 5,000 or more.
* Information from study: Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Goa' by Baina-based NGO, ARZ
Massage parlours
Place: Mostly in the coastal belt
Operate from: Stalls erected behind beach shacks, hotels, lodges and rented houses. While some are high-class massage/beauty parlours, others operate from dingy rooms. There are registered as well as unregistered parlours that traffick. A security guard at most places facilitates entry into the parlour.
CSWs: From Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nepal. Of late, Goan girls have also been found working in such parlours.
Customers: Domestic, foreign tourists, even local youngsters have been found visiting those located in Bardez taluka.
Modus operandi: Customers do not approach massage/beauty parlours directly. They are solicited by mostly young boys. After soliciting, the customers (either alone or in groups of 2-4) are brought to the parlour via private or commercial vehicles. In a majority of cases, vans are used to transport the solicited customers.
Price: Varies from Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000
Hotels & lodges
Place: Almost everywhere in Goa
CSWs: Predominantly from Maharashtra (mainly Mumbai, Pune and Sawantwadi), Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nepal. Young, smart, modern, fashionable and Hindi-speaking girls are preferred.
Modus operandi: The girls are accommodated at the hotel or in a nearby rented house. After agents fix a deal with customers, the girls are made available. Those put up in rented premises are contacted over their mobiles and picked up from their residences.
Agents in hotels and lodges also contact girls who openly solicit in markets and beaches. On receiving the details, the girl proceeds to the hotel/lodge.
In another variant, in Bardez taluka rooms are rented to girls on an hourly basis.
Some hotel managers also have contacts with CSWs from other states in order to meet demand. If the girl does not have money to travel, she is instructed to board a particular bus where the ticket is paid for directly at the travel agency by the hotel manager. She diembarks at the said destination and is taken directly to the hotel.
Customers: Domestic and foreign tourists
Rented Rooms
Place: CSWs are kept in rented rooms and houses in villages
CSWs: From Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nepal.
Modus operandi: The girls are brought to Goa by bus or train on contracts that range from a week to a month.
In Bardez taluka, they are mostly picked up from the Mapusa bus stand or Thivim railway station.
They are not allowed to leave the rooms/houses. Whenever they are taken out, vehicles with black tinted glasses are used. After the contract period they are paid and sent back.
Fishing trawlers
Place: Fishing jetties and nearby market areas. Though entry into fishing jetties is restricted, the girls are permitted.
CSWs: Mostly from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Modus operandi: Soliciting is done by the CSW herself. The room is often a trawler anchored a distance away from the jetty.
Though cash is paid, in many cases the girl gets fish or prawns which she later sells.
Customers: Migrants from Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, who work on contract basis with trawler owners.
Brothels
Place: Baina, Vasco
Modus operandi: Customers are solicited by motorcycle pilots and taxi drivers at bus stands, railway stations, markets, gardens and brought to Baina beach.
Here, a deal is made with the madam' (brothel owner) and once finalized the girl is sent with the customer to a nearby, pre-determined room.
The amount paid is shared by the pimp, room owner, madam and the CSW. At times, the CSW is forced to solicit customers herself.
Isolated places
Place: Prime areas include the KTC bus stand, Municipal garden, Railway bridge and railway station in Vasco city. Also Sada, Bogda, the Japanese garden, Kharewada, Birla, Zuari Nagar, Verna industrial estate, Kelsim and Thane and Cortalim.
CSWs: Mostly those displaced after the demolition of the red light area in Baina.
Modus operandi: CSWs solicit customers on the roads and take them to nearby hotels, lodges or thickly forested areas.
Highways
Place: Highways passing through some of the state's interior talukas. Mostly in highly industrial and mining areas.
CSWs: Mostly from migrant populations settled in slums or rented houses.
Modus operandi: CSWs solicit at different locations along the highways. The customer is taken to a room or the girl travels to another location in the latter's vehicle.
Customers: Mostly truck drivers and helpers.
10 Jun 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Cops' theory on Elena's death inconclusive
Cops' theory on Elena's death inconclusive
TNN
PANAJI: Russian authorities have refused to accept the Goa police's accident theory in teenager Elena Sukhonova's death and said that homicide can't be excluded.
Elena's body was found on the railway tracks at Thivim on May 8. Police initially said that she might have boarded a train to Mumbai and accidentally fallen off of it. However, till date they have not got a single witness who could confirm her presence at the Thivim railway station.
"The Goa police's accident theory is not conclusive. There is a strong suspicion that it could be a case of homicide. Till date we have not received definite answers from the police," said Russian consul general Alexander Mantytsky, who was in Goa to discuss Elena's case with state government authorities.
"A number of our requests to expedite the investigation remained unanswered by the concerned authorities," he said. Admitting that there is a kind of police inefficiency in handling the case, he said, "The police is ill-equipped because they don't have a forensic laboratory. Some reports are pending for years together as the final report is not available." The Russian embassy authorities in Delhi have also taken up the matter with the ministry of external affairs and requested them to investigate into the case.
The consul general met the chief secretary and IGP on Tuesday to discuss Elena's case and also discussed eight more cases that involved an assault on a Russian, arrests and a jail sentence slapped on a Russian, and two cases of robbery of Russian tourists.
Describing Elena as a college student, he said that her parents have asked for her nails and hair for DNA profiling as she her face is now unrecognizable.
Stating that the inefficiency gives a bad name to Goa, he said, "Most Russians are victims of crime and that is why we want a thorough investigation into the cases. We want the accused to be punished. We don't want to promote a negative image of Goa."
Criticizing the stand of home minister Ravi Naik, who blamed foreign tourists for tarnishing Goa's image by their late night lifestyle, he asked, "If late night parties are illegal, then the police should enforce the law and ensure that there are no violations. Why blame the tourists, who are coming here to relax?"
About 44,000 Russian tourists visited Goa during the tourist season of 2008-2009. "Russians are also looking at Kerala. Now, the competition between Goa and Kerala is going to increase," he said.
The Russian counsel said that though some of the cases have been finalized by the police, they found the "answers in the mentioned letters quite formal as they do not contain any concrete information about the course of investigation."
3 June, 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
TNN
PANAJI: Russian authorities have refused to accept the Goa police's accident theory in teenager Elena Sukhonova's death and said that homicide can't be excluded.
Elena's body was found on the railway tracks at Thivim on May 8. Police initially said that she might have boarded a train to Mumbai and accidentally fallen off of it. However, till date they have not got a single witness who could confirm her presence at the Thivim railway station.
"The Goa police's accident theory is not conclusive. There is a strong suspicion that it could be a case of homicide. Till date we have not received definite answers from the police," said Russian consul general Alexander Mantytsky, who was in Goa to discuss Elena's case with state government authorities.
"A number of our requests to expedite the investigation remained unanswered by the concerned authorities," he said. Admitting that there is a kind of police inefficiency in handling the case, he said, "The police is ill-equipped because they don't have a forensic laboratory. Some reports are pending for years together as the final report is not available." The Russian embassy authorities in Delhi have also taken up the matter with the ministry of external affairs and requested them to investigate into the case.
The consul general met the chief secretary and IGP on Tuesday to discuss Elena's case and also discussed eight more cases that involved an assault on a Russian, arrests and a jail sentence slapped on a Russian, and two cases of robbery of Russian tourists.
Describing Elena as a college student, he said that her parents have asked for her nails and hair for DNA profiling as she her face is now unrecognizable.
Stating that the inefficiency gives a bad name to Goa, he said, "Most Russians are victims of crime and that is why we want a thorough investigation into the cases. We want the accused to be punished. We don't want to promote a negative image of Goa."
Criticizing the stand of home minister Ravi Naik, who blamed foreign tourists for tarnishing Goa's image by their late night lifestyle, he asked, "If late night parties are illegal, then the police should enforce the law and ensure that there are no violations. Why blame the tourists, who are coming here to relax?"
About 44,000 Russian tourists visited Goa during the tourist season of 2008-2009. "Russians are also looking at Kerala. Now, the competition between Goa and Kerala is going to increase," he said.
The Russian counsel said that though some of the cases have been finalized by the police, they found the "answers in the mentioned letters quite formal as they do not contain any concrete information about the course of investigation."
3 June, 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
No one saw Elena at the station: Shopkeeper, staff
No one saw Elena at the station: Shopkeeper, staff
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: In a further twist to the death of Russian teenager Elena Sukhanova, staff at the Thivim railway station have told TOI that they did not
see the girl at the station on the night her body was found on the tracks.
They insist that it would have been impossible for them to miss her as the collapsible gate to enter the platform at the station doesn't open till 4 am, one hour before the arrival of the Mangala Express.
It may be recalled that on May 8, Elena's body was found on the tracks about 3.5 km from the station. Police had said that from available evidence it appeared that Elena might have travelled either on the Mangala Express which left Thivim station at 5.02am or the Netravati Express which left the station at 7.09am and "somehow fallen from the train while she was travelling".
When TOI visited the station at about 3am on Friday, the collapsible gate to the platform was locked and passengers (mostly migrant labourers) were found to be fast asleep on the floor at
the entrance. At 4am, the gate was opened as the ticket counter had started issuing tickets for the Mangala Express. By 4.30am, the two shops in the station too opened for business.
"We don't open the collapsible gate at the station till 4am. Even if Elena was at the station, she would have had to wait outside and would have been noticed entering the platform once the gate was opened. Generally, whenever a lone tourist is brought to the station in a taxi in the night, the driver knocks at the gate and we allow the passenger to enter. But nothing of that sort happened on the night of May 8," a Thivim railway staffer told TOI. Elena's body was discovered at 7.45am. A shopkeeper at the station added, "No one saw her (Elena) here. It's surprising that all of us could have missed a lone, drunk foreign tourist."
Elena's Russian friends incidentally, had earlier told police that the teenagers had consumed beer on the night she died. "At about 2am (on May 8) myself, Natalia, Galina Evegeny, Georgy and Elena left Mambo's and went to the Baga beach. We all again consumed beer on the Baga beach sands. At about 2.30am myself, Natalia, Galina, Evegeny and Georgy decided to leave and go back to our hotel. However, Elena decided to stay back on the beach and continued having beer. She was in a drunken state," Russian tourist Andrey Dorin had said in her statement to the Mapusa police. She added that she was introduced to Elena a day before the latter's death during dinner at a beach shack and restaurant in Baga.
Meanwhile, Calangute police sources told TOI that the Traveller's Inn, a guest house where Elena was staying before her death, and the Baga-based Buckingham shack, whose owner she reportedly called her "boyfriend", "closed down a few days after the Russian girl's death". "Generally, the shack is open till the last week of May and the guest house is shut sometime in mid-June," said police sources. Shack owner Vishant Kundaikar told TOI, "It was a lean season and there were no customers. So I closed down the shack."
When contacted, senior police officials refused to comment saying investigations were on. Russian consul general Alexander Mantytsky is in Goa and is expected to meet the chief minister on Tuesday.
2 June,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: In a further twist to the death of Russian teenager Elena Sukhanova, staff at the Thivim railway station have told TOI that they did not
see the girl at the station on the night her body was found on the tracks.
They insist that it would have been impossible for them to miss her as the collapsible gate to enter the platform at the station doesn't open till 4 am, one hour before the arrival of the Mangala Express.
It may be recalled that on May 8, Elena's body was found on the tracks about 3.5 km from the station. Police had said that from available evidence it appeared that Elena might have travelled either on the Mangala Express which left Thivim station at 5.02am or the Netravati Express which left the station at 7.09am and "somehow fallen from the train while she was travelling".
When TOI visited the station at about 3am on Friday, the collapsible gate to the platform was locked and passengers (mostly migrant labourers) were found to be fast asleep on the floor at
the entrance. At 4am, the gate was opened as the ticket counter had started issuing tickets for the Mangala Express. By 4.30am, the two shops in the station too opened for business.
"We don't open the collapsible gate at the station till 4am. Even if Elena was at the station, she would have had to wait outside and would have been noticed entering the platform once the gate was opened. Generally, whenever a lone tourist is brought to the station in a taxi in the night, the driver knocks at the gate and we allow the passenger to enter. But nothing of that sort happened on the night of May 8," a Thivim railway staffer told TOI. Elena's body was discovered at 7.45am. A shopkeeper at the station added, "No one saw her (Elena) here. It's surprising that all of us could have missed a lone, drunk foreign tourist."
Elena's Russian friends incidentally, had earlier told police that the teenagers had consumed beer on the night she died. "At about 2am (on May 8) myself, Natalia, Galina Evegeny, Georgy and Elena left Mambo's and went to the Baga beach. We all again consumed beer on the Baga beach sands. At about 2.30am myself, Natalia, Galina, Evegeny and Georgy decided to leave and go back to our hotel. However, Elena decided to stay back on the beach and continued having beer. She was in a drunken state," Russian tourist Andrey Dorin had said in her statement to the Mapusa police. She added that she was introduced to Elena a day before the latter's death during dinner at a beach shack and restaurant in Baga.
Meanwhile, Calangute police sources told TOI that the Traveller's Inn, a guest house where Elena was staying before her death, and the Baga-based Buckingham shack, whose owner she reportedly called her "boyfriend", "closed down a few days after the Russian girl's death". "Generally, the shack is open till the last week of May and the guest house is shut sometime in mid-June," said police sources. Shack owner Vishant Kundaikar told TOI, "It was a lean season and there were no customers. So I closed down the shack."
When contacted, senior police officials refused to comment saying investigations were on. Russian consul general Alexander Mantytsky is in Goa and is expected to meet the chief minister on Tuesday.
2 June,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Why unnatural is natural for cops?
Why unnatural is natural for cops?
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: Of the 10 murders that Mahanand Naik has confessed to, five were registered as cases of unnatural death (UD) by the police and the cases were kept “open ended” for years.
Even as senior officials have called for the case papers to investigate into the circumstances under which the cases were registered as UDs, women activists say that dismissing a case as UD is common practice with the police. Sources say that over 70 cases are registered as UDs annually.
Sabina Martins of Bailancho Saad said, “This has been our major grievance with the police. Whenever there is a woman’s death and it’s a difficult case, rather than investigate, the police register it as UD. In the absence of public pressure, the police don’t investigate seriously, even when there is enough evidence pointing towards murder.”
Auda Veigas of Bailancho Ekvott, who has been a panch witness for the police in several cases, agreed and said, “Whenever an unknown young woman’s body is found, the police immediately conclude that it may be a ‘outsider’s body’. Instead of investigating it as a case of murder, they dismiss it as an unnatural death and terminate investigations.”
Explaining the reasons behind the police tendency to register potential murders as UDs, former SP Alex Rasquinha said it is to avoid extensive paper work and to project a lower crime rate. “Once a case is registered as a murder, there are several formalities. Besides, a UD doesn’t reflect on the crime graph. The police don’t want to show an increase in murders with a low detection rate as it signifies a lack of supervision,” he said.
He added that the most common excuse the police adopt in keeping a case as UD is that the viscera report is awaited.
26 May 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: Of the 10 murders that Mahanand Naik has confessed to, five were registered as cases of unnatural death (UD) by the police and the cases were kept “open ended” for years.
Even as senior officials have called for the case papers to investigate into the circumstances under which the cases were registered as UDs, women activists say that dismissing a case as UD is common practice with the police. Sources say that over 70 cases are registered as UDs annually.
Sabina Martins of Bailancho Saad said, “This has been our major grievance with the police. Whenever there is a woman’s death and it’s a difficult case, rather than investigate, the police register it as UD. In the absence of public pressure, the police don’t investigate seriously, even when there is enough evidence pointing towards murder.”
Auda Veigas of Bailancho Ekvott, who has been a panch witness for the police in several cases, agreed and said, “Whenever an unknown young woman’s body is found, the police immediately conclude that it may be a ‘outsider’s body’. Instead of investigating it as a case of murder, they dismiss it as an unnatural death and terminate investigations.”
Explaining the reasons behind the police tendency to register potential murders as UDs, former SP Alex Rasquinha said it is to avoid extensive paper work and to project a lower crime rate. “Once a case is registered as a murder, there are several formalities. Besides, a UD doesn’t reflect on the crime graph. The police don’t want to show an increase in murders with a low detection rate as it signifies a lack of supervision,” he said.
He added that the most common excuse the police adopt in keeping a case as UD is that the viscera report is awaited.
26 May 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Scarlett's organs sent to UK coroner, says mother
Scarlett's organs sent to UK coroner, says mother
Preetu Nair , TNN
PANAJI: Fiona MacKeown, mother of the slain British teenager Scarlett Keeling, said that the Indian authorities have finally released the remaining organs of her daughter and they have been sent to the coroner in the UK. However, Scarlett will not be buried till the investigations in India are over, she added.
Speaking to TOI from her home in Devon, Fiona said, "I haven't received the organs yet, but everything is proceeding in the right direction. The CBI has released the organs. The organs won't come to me but go directly to the UK coroner".
Scarlett was found dead at the Anjuna beach on February 18, 2008. First, the police dismissed it as a case of unnatural death, but later they arrested two people for drugging and raping Scarlett before leaving her to die on the beach, but MacKeown alleged cover-up.
"There is half a uterus and a piece of liver and kidney as far as I know. The UK coroner is very keen to do tests on the uterus and the kidney. I expect the uterus will reveal Scarlett's sexual activities before she died and the kidney should reveal details of drink and drugs that were consumed before she died although tests on hair have already been done to expose this," she said.
Incidentally, MacKeown, while taking Scarlett's body to UK, had said that she would conduct tests in UK. But when the UK coroner revealed that several of her body parts were missing, MacKeown alleged that she was kept in the dark about the missing organs by the forensic doctors and police.
"I had expected them to take bits, samples, but I brought her back and there was a lot missing. Her spleen and her uterus. All that had gone. They told me it was normal procedure, but I tried to tie them down to find out what the exact procedure was, but there isn't one. It seems that they do what they want", she had said.
Though now happy that she has finally got her daughter's organs, she admitted that it would be sometime before she would be able to bury her daughter. "I don't think the coroner will let me bury her until the investigations are over in India. I don't even know when her body will be released to me," she added.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has approached the high court of Bombay at Goa for a letter of request to interrogate two British citizens in connection with the murder of 15-year-old Scarlett. In a petition filed in the court, the investigating agency has said that a letter rogatory, or a formal request, from the court is essential to question the victim's mother Mackeown and Charles Carter, who had allegedly seen Scarlett sometime before she was found dead on Anjuna beach. A letter rogatory is a formal communication sent by a court to a foreign court seeking the latter's assistance in recording the statements of witnesses residing there.
25 May 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair , TNN
PANAJI: Fiona MacKeown, mother of the slain British teenager Scarlett Keeling, said that the Indian authorities have finally released the remaining organs of her daughter and they have been sent to the coroner in the UK. However, Scarlett will not be buried till the investigations in India are over, she added.
Speaking to TOI from her home in Devon, Fiona said, "I haven't received the organs yet, but everything is proceeding in the right direction. The CBI has released the organs. The organs won't come to me but go directly to the UK coroner".
Scarlett was found dead at the Anjuna beach on February 18, 2008. First, the police dismissed it as a case of unnatural death, but later they arrested two people for drugging and raping Scarlett before leaving her to die on the beach, but MacKeown alleged cover-up.
"There is half a uterus and a piece of liver and kidney as far as I know. The UK coroner is very keen to do tests on the uterus and the kidney. I expect the uterus will reveal Scarlett's sexual activities before she died and the kidney should reveal details of drink and drugs that were consumed before she died although tests on hair have already been done to expose this," she said.
Incidentally, MacKeown, while taking Scarlett's body to UK, had said that she would conduct tests in UK. But when the UK coroner revealed that several of her body parts were missing, MacKeown alleged that she was kept in the dark about the missing organs by the forensic doctors and police.
"I had expected them to take bits, samples, but I brought her back and there was a lot missing. Her spleen and her uterus. All that had gone. They told me it was normal procedure, but I tried to tie them down to find out what the exact procedure was, but there isn't one. It seems that they do what they want", she had said.
Though now happy that she has finally got her daughter's organs, she admitted that it would be sometime before she would be able to bury her daughter. "I don't think the coroner will let me bury her until the investigations are over in India. I don't even know when her body will be released to me," she added.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has approached the high court of Bombay at Goa for a letter of request to interrogate two British citizens in connection with the murder of 15-year-old Scarlett. In a petition filed in the court, the investigating agency has said that a letter rogatory, or a formal request, from the court is essential to question the victim's mother Mackeown and Charles Carter, who had allegedly seen Scarlett sometime before she was found dead on Anjuna beach. A letter rogatory is a formal communication sent by a court to a foreign court seeking the latter's assistance in recording the statements of witnesses residing there.
25 May 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition
Mahanand raped me for 4 years, says victim
Mahanand raped me for 4 years, says victim
Preetu Nair & Rajeshree Nagarsekar, TNN
PANAJI: A rape survivor revealed that dupatta killer Mahanand Naik raped her everyday for four years and then lured her with gold, clothes and promises of marriage. When she objected, he threatened her, she alleged.
"For four years, he wouldn't allow me to talk to anyone. If I talked to a man, he would threaten me. Two years ago I got a marriage proposal from Ponda. Mahanand went to the boy and told him that I am his girl', thereby destroying my marriage prospects," revealed Reema Naik, 23.
She says that there were times when she wanted to attack him but was too afraid to do anything. "He threatened me with dire consequences and I believed him for four years. Every time he raped me, he warned that if I tried to break off or go to the police, then he will defame me with my semi-nude photos. He used to get frequent calls from girls on his mobile, but he would avoid speaking to them in my presence. I dared not question him, as my mind and heart were filled with fear," said Reema.
However, in April, the victim pulled the plug on Mahanand when she spilled the beans to the Ponda police. The police immediately arrested Mahanand for raping the 23-year-old. Later, while in custody, he confessed to killing 10 women after promising to marry them.
Mahanand now faces charges in connection with the alleged murder of 10 women and rape of the 23-year-old. The police also recovered the victim's photo as well as several mobile phones buried in a room at Mahanand's house in Shiroda, about 3 km away from her home.
Though she has forgotten how many times Mahanand raped her, she says that she still remembers that she was first raped on June 21, 2005 in Mahanand's house. She can still remember her helpless scream for help, which was reduced to a whisper in the coming years, she said.
Interestingly, Mahanand never beat her or tried to kill her. On the contrary, he lured her with promises of marriage, jewellery and clothes. "He gifted me clothes, gold jewellery and also promised to marry me. I had no option but to believe him as I had no one to turn to for help," she said.
She claims that she struggled to ignore her doubts. She kept trying to put the pieces together. "When I asked him how he, an unemployed person, got the money to purchase gifts for me, he dodged my questions, manipulated me and I kept on suppressing my growing suspicions out of fear and uncertainty," she said.
"I still picture him coming at odd times to my home, watching me, ready to abuse me. His presence shattered our lives and led to frequent fights with my younger sister," she added. For Reema, her struggle for justice has just started.
(Name of victim changed)
23 May 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
Preetu Nair & Rajeshree Nagarsekar, TNN
PANAJI: A rape survivor revealed that dupatta killer Mahanand Naik raped her everyday for four years and then lured her with gold, clothes and promises of marriage. When she objected, he threatened her, she alleged.
"For four years, he wouldn't allow me to talk to anyone. If I talked to a man, he would threaten me. Two years ago I got a marriage proposal from Ponda. Mahanand went to the boy and told him that I am his girl', thereby destroying my marriage prospects," revealed Reema Naik, 23.
She says that there were times when she wanted to attack him but was too afraid to do anything. "He threatened me with dire consequences and I believed him for four years. Every time he raped me, he warned that if I tried to break off or go to the police, then he will defame me with my semi-nude photos. He used to get frequent calls from girls on his mobile, but he would avoid speaking to them in my presence. I dared not question him, as my mind and heart were filled with fear," said Reema.
However, in April, the victim pulled the plug on Mahanand when she spilled the beans to the Ponda police. The police immediately arrested Mahanand for raping the 23-year-old. Later, while in custody, he confessed to killing 10 women after promising to marry them.
Mahanand now faces charges in connection with the alleged murder of 10 women and rape of the 23-year-old. The police also recovered the victim's photo as well as several mobile phones buried in a room at Mahanand's house in Shiroda, about 3 km away from her home.
Though she has forgotten how many times Mahanand raped her, she says that she still remembers that she was first raped on June 21, 2005 in Mahanand's house. She can still remember her helpless scream for help, which was reduced to a whisper in the coming years, she said.
Interestingly, Mahanand never beat her or tried to kill her. On the contrary, he lured her with promises of marriage, jewellery and clothes. "He gifted me clothes, gold jewellery and also promised to marry me. I had no option but to believe him as I had no one to turn to for help," she said.
She claims that she struggled to ignore her doubts. She kept trying to put the pieces together. "When I asked him how he, an unemployed person, got the money to purchase gifts for me, he dodged my questions, manipulated me and I kept on suppressing my growing suspicions out of fear and uncertainty," she said.
"I still picture him coming at odd times to my home, watching me, ready to abuse me. His presence shattered our lives and led to frequent fights with my younger sister," she added. For Reema, her struggle for justice has just started.
(Name of victim changed)
23 May 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition
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