Accused thrashed, handed over to police
TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: In an incident that sent shock waves amongst the villagers of Velim and Betul, a 19-year-old native of Orissa, working as a khalashi on a fishing vessel, tried to sexually assault and outrage the modesty of a 14-year-old girl from Kerala after knocking down her mother at Cutbona on Saturday noon.
The girl was rescued from the lustful advances of the accused after local residents responded to the cries for help from the young girl. Agitated locals gave the accused a sound thrashing before handing him over to the Cuncolim police. The accused Ratu Chattu Kshatriya (19) was later arrested under the Goa Children’s Act and for outraging the modesty of the girl.
The incident occurred at around 3 pm when the mother-daughter duo was walking along the Cutbona-Betul road towards Margao to procure medicines. The mother had come with her daughter to Cutbona from Kerala on Friday to take her sister back to their native state. Since the trio was scheduled to return back to Kerala on Sunday, the mother-daughter duo was walking towards the bus stand when the accused came and pushed down the mother, before pulling the girl towards the river side.
Women’s right activist, Auda Viegas said the young girl studying in fifth standard in Kerala, clinged to a coconut tree and shouted for help, attracting the attention of the local residents. “He pushed down the girl’s mother and tore her saree. The girl has sustained injuries on her elbow and leg”, she said.
Incidentally, Viegas said the victim’s aunt’s daughter was gang-raped and murdered by a group of migrant labourers around nine years ago at Betul.
The police are investigating into the incident.
