------------------------------------------------------------------------ * G * O * A * N * E * T **** C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Renew your wedding vows in Goa, or gift a Ceremony Package to a close couple Multiple options to make your day extra special! http://www.renewalsetc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Priest's Murderers Acquitted In Goa By SAR NEWS MUMBAI, Maharashtra (SAR NEWS) -- They found it strange that the Church bells had not rung as usual in the morning. When they discovered their parish priest brutally murdered in his room on the morning of March 18, 2006, the parishioners of St Xavier's Church, Macazana in south Goa were stunned. It sent shock waves throughout the State, which was already in the throes of rising communal tensions with more than 15 cases of Churches and chapels robbed and crosses desecrated. Yet when the two accused murderers were acquitted on Nov.17, 2008, there was hardly a whimper of protest from the Church or the State. The judge acquitted both accused -- 20 year olds, Manish Dubey and Amit Shukla, both natives from UP -- on the grounds that "as the case projected by the prosecution appears doubtful, the benefit of the doubt deserves to be given to the accused." So the question of who murdered 62 year old Fr Ferrao and why, remains unanswered, perhaps forever. >From the very beginning, there was something macabre in the cold-blooded murder. The two youths were evidently Fr Ferrao's invited guests. They had dined with him earlier. Why would Manish stab the priest over and over again, between midnight and 1 a.m. in the priest's bedroom, if the cause of their fracas was, as proposed by the prosecution, that the job promised Manish by the priest was not forthcoming? Why would Amit then jump in and gag the priest with a pillow thus suffocating him. Murder under the influence of liquor sounded ludicrous because the trio had consumed only two bottles of beer. Robbery was certainly not the motive. So right from the beginning of the case there was a whiff of a cover-up. This was highlighted within days after the murder, in the editorial of one of the local newspapers. "It is very likely that the murder was a cold-blooded, preplanned murder, the motives of which are either not known or are being hushed up by the police and the Church. Let it be made very clear that it is entirely out of deference, propriety and sensitivity towards the deceased that a lot of information about Fr Ferrao's habits and life-style is being withheld. Information that could specifically lead to the motive of the murder. And the motive isn't as simple as frustration at a job not being granted. You don't kill for this." Only one newspaper in their account on the acquittal, mentioned the homosexual angle that was examined during the case with some of the witnesses. Evidently, this angle was not pursued by the prosecution which considerable weakened their case and permitted the acquittal of the two accused. Moments after the judge pronounced their acquittal, a happy and relieved Manish and Amit came out of the courtroom to meet Amit's mother and aunt who had come to Goa from UP.