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Recently a correspondent on this forum observed, on noticing a
politician in UP being booked by the CBI of having wealth far
disproportionate to his income, how many of of our goan politicians
are equally from, appearances of the cars they drive and the grand
villas they have built after entry into political life. just as
guilty...... ...have escaped any such enquiries just goes to show
the nexus of the Ant-corruption Bureau (if they operate) and the
politicians themselves !! Just observe how long ( 2 months ) it took
the Goa Police to finally charge a wanna-be- politician with
rape.......it was reported in the press that his accuser was
pressured to drop any complaint as he was a " powerful " man who
could cause her a lot of pain !! One wonders what our other goan
politicians must be getting away with ?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mauricio Pereira" <mpqa...@hotmail.com>
To: <goa...@goanet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 8:00 PM
Subject: [Goanet] Goa politician booked in Russian rape case
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Goa politician booked in Russian rape case
IANS, Feb 16, 2010, 07.21pm IST
PANAJI: The crime branch on Tuesday formally charged Goa politician John
Fernandes with raping and assaulting a 25-year-old Russian woman in
December last year, police said.
Deputy inspector general of police Ravindra Singh Yadav said the
chargesheet was filed on Tuesday before a local judicial magistrate, but
would be admitted to the sessions court Feb 23.
FOrty-year-old Fernandes has been charged under sections 354 (assault or
criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word,
gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 376 (punishment
for rape) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC), Yadav said.
John Fernandes is presently in judicial custody. The alleged rape of the
25-year-old Russian woman on Dec 2 by Fernandes at Colva, a popular resort
village in south Goa 35 km from here, had hit national spotlight, with the
girl alleging that the police not only harassed her by not allowing her to
register the complaint but they also ensured that the accused avoided
arrest.
Echoes of the Russian's rape were even heard in parliament when Goa's lone
Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik (Congress) blamed the foreign national for
hanging out with strangers till late in the night.
Even chief minister Digambar Kamat and public works department minister
Churchill Alemao had publicly blamed the victim for hanging out in the
public areas till late in night after the complaint was filed.
Fernandes had contested the last assembly polls on a regional party ticket
and came close to toppling Goa tourism minister Mickky Pachecho in the
contest for the Benaulim seat.
The Russian consulate had to intervene and serve a stern rejoinder to the
state government to investigate the rape case in earnest. Goa attracts
nearly two million tourists annually - almost twice its population - and
4.5 lakh of the tourists are foreign nationals.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Goa-politician-booked-in-Russian-rape-case-/articleshow/5580911.cms
