PANJIM: Between 1995 and 2009 Mahanand Naik wrote the bloodiest chapter of serial killings that Goa or India may have ever witnessed. As many as 16 unsuspecting women were killed by the savage and robbed of their gold. As Mahanand gets a furlough from the prison it is time to look back into the acts of the infamous ‘Dupatta killer’.
After a string of seven acquittals by various courts, the auto-rickshaw driver Mahanand Naik, the dupatta killer was first convicted in the murder of Susheela Fatarpekar in 2007.
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By this time he had confessed of having murdered almost 16 women across Goa by strangling them with their dupatta.
After a toiling investigation and several ups and downs, the Ponda Police and the prosecution got the first conviction. On June 10, 2011, Mahanand was convicted of murdering Susheela Fatarpekar quickly followed by the second conviction of Vasanti Gaude, who he had murdered way back in 1995. In February 2012, justice caught up with the serial killer after he got convicted and sentenced for life for murdering Yogita Naik.
In 2013, Mahanand had appealed for acquittal and secured one in the Susheela Fatarpekar case. However, the HC upheld his conviction in the Vasanti Gaude case.
First Conviction
June 10, 2011
Murder of Susheela Fatarpekar (2007)
District and Sessions Court North Goa convicted Mahanand of abducting and killing Susheela Fatarpekar in 2007. The killing had come to light after the mother of Susheela narrated the story to police in 2009 and filed a complaint later on.
Mahanand was later acquitted in this case by the High Court of Bombay at Goa.
Second Conviction
July 21, 2011
Murder of Vasanti Gaude (1995)
Mahanand killed her by luring her to an isolated place at Bethora village. She was strangulated to death using a dupatta by the killer and all her gold ornaments were robbed.
Additional District and Sessions Court convicted Mahanand for life for killing Vasanti Gaude on September 11, 1995.
In 2013, Mahanand appealed against the conviction in the High Court. However, the HC upheld the sentence.
Third Conviction
Feb 19, 2012
Murder of Yogita Naik (2009)
The District and Sessions court, Panjim, on Saturday held alleged serial killer Mahanand Naik guilty of killing Yogita alias Balika Khushali Naik, 30, a resident of Nagzar-Curti, Ponda, in January 2009.
Mahanand had befriended Yogita under the pretext of marrying her and on January 10, 2009, took her to a cashew plantation in Morlem, Sattari and strangulated her with her dupatta. After killing her, he stole her gold ornaments valued at Rs 80,000.
