A migrant woman, living as a tenant in the house of an elderly Goan couple in Benaulim has shown by her deeds that it is very easy to hoodwink the authorities in the State and get certificates by giving fraudulent information. Living in a rented premises for a few years, the woman has managed to get legal documents – a birth certificate, a driving licence, marriage certificate – by purporting to be the daughter of the elderly couple in whose house she has been living as a tenant. And to cap it all, the woman has gone on to apply for Portuguese citizenship based on the documents that, though obtained allegedly fraudulently, would be legally valid if the elderly couple had not learnt of the deception and identity theft.
While people across Goa were shocked and outraged to read about the migrant woman who changed her name and included her landlords’ names as her parents to get the documents, imagine the shock that the elderly couple must have got on seeing their names as parents in their tenant’s marriage certificate, which is how they learnt of the fraud. The only document of their tenant that the couple signed is as witnesses of her marriage. The outraged couple claims they have signed nothing else and went on to complain to the police and write to various authorities about the fraud. Some 15 days after the complaint, with no investigations happening, the couple took the case to the media, which is when the Margao Municipal Council, where the birth certificate was obtained, ordered an internal inquiry. And the police acted even slower than the municipal council. The couple was called to the police station only after the news was reported by the media, and the police are just beginning the inquiry.
The tardiness of the police force in acting in this case further indicates exactly what kind of support a law-abiding citizen in this State can get from the authorities. For, while the case is shocking, it is hardly surprising that the migrant woman was able to get all those documents from the authorities in Goa. Even less surprising is the lack of seriousness that the authorities have shown in dealing with the case. This is just one example of how people in Goa are able to circumvent rules and get certificates from government offices by giving false information. Given the manner in which government departments work, there is need to streamline processes and make issue of certificates more tight.
The police in Goa might take this to be a minor case. But there is more to this case then just the fact of identity theft. The case gives further proof of corruption in government offices. There is no way in which the woman could have been able to get a birth certificate and a driving licence in a false name if officials in the concerned government offices from where these were obtained were not involved in some manner. It is either proof of corruption or a sheer lack of application by the government officers to their work that allowed these documents to be registered and then issued.
The case should be registered and investigated not just against the woman who got the certificates made, but also against the government officers who in whatever manner facilitated the registrations and then issued the certificates. This is a case of corruption and the involvement is surely not just of one person but of many. If the police seriously probe into the matter they could possibly come across many more such cases that have never come to light but do exist. All it requires is a little effort on the part of the authorities and some seriousness in investigations.
