TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2024
The news that a five-and-a-half-year-old girl was raped and murdered by two Bihari labourers in Dabolim on Friday shook the entire state. Are women and girls safe in this state? Has law and order in this State plunged into an abyss? Such questions are being asked by women’s organizations and citizens. But in fact, on the one hand the increased confidence of the criminals that they can ‘manage’ anyone and on the other hand no fear of the police, is causing problems of law and order. Let alone Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, but it is all happening in a small State like Goa.
Crimes such as burglary, rape, murder, firing, drug trafficking and child abduction have been witnessed in the first three and a half months of this year. Of course, 90-95 percent of the criminals involved in such crimes are not from Goa. Every day someone is found selling weed or smuggling methamphetamine. Do the police have no idea how deeply rooted this business is? While small quantities of marijuana worth a mere Rs 1.5 lakh or even Rs 35,000 are seized, seemingly no effort is being made to go to the root of the issue and track down the big drug pedlers. Infact, what the runners who are arrested are made to wear a black hood and then several policemen pose along with them for a photograph, which is sent to print media for publishing. The police act as if they have caught a terrorist. Incidentally, the High Court had to ask police to stop such photo sessions with the accused, and warned of action. Despite being reprimanded by the High Court, photos are still being taken by the police, but without the accused.
About a month and a half ago, the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Squad raided a hotel there between February 24-25. When the drug peddlers were detained, it came to light that India’s biggest drug supply racket was being run from Goa’s Colvale Jail. The Telangana Anti-Narcotics Squad’s claim has not been challenged or denied by the Goa government. How can the government refute it? In the first week of February, the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Squad caught Goa-based Nigerian drug supplier Evula Stanley with but a whopping Rs eight crore worth of drugs. Police from this south Indian State came to Goa and arrested international criminals living here. Ironically, on the other hand, the Goa police seizes 400 to 500 grams of marijuana and expect their photos in the newspapers. With such an approach, how will Goa become a drug-free State?
The increasing migration of people from several States to Goa is not a new phenomenon. But the number of criminals from among these is the thing to worry about. Two youth from Bihar come on a motorcycle and shoot Sachin Kurtikar with a pistol at Bethora. The incident took place on March 8. Where did they get the pistol from? Even before that, we may remember the shooting incident at Curtorim. All of these criminals are ‘outsiders’. Three days ago, two Bihari labourers raped and killed a five-and-a-half-year-old girl at an under construction site in Dabolim.
Take the month of February this year as an example. In the first twenty-one days of February, there were seven serious crimes involving minors. February started with the abduction of a four-year-old girl in Mapusa-Khorlim and her subsequent sexual abuse. On February 11, three girls were abducted from Cuncolim. In Porvorim, a minor was assaulted over a money dispute. A minor girl was abducted and molested in Pernem. After the headmistress of the school came to know about it, the entire matter came to light. In the first twenty-one days of February, the police registered four cases of kidnapping and three cases of sexual abuse. Apart from this, in the month of March, a girl was attacked in a one-sided love case. From all this it is evident that the criminals no longer fear the police.
There are several cases where a crime is committed somewhere in the country, and the criminal is safely staying in Goa by hiding the identity. Of course, the fact that Goa is a haven for criminals to hide is nothing new. The image of Goa is getting uglier by the day due to increasing crimes in the state. Incidents of violence against women and minors, incidents of robbery and burglary have resulted in drastic decline in the number of international tourists coming to Goa. But no one cares about this. Leaders are busy with their own politics, and citizens have to rush to the courts for their petty issues. With the increasing number of cases of burglaries, kidnappings and sexual assaults in broad daylight, one wonders if Goa will soon become another Bihar.
