Michael Vaz
Tourism today is one of the greatest money spinners all around the globe. People visit different tourist centres may be to see the palaces built by the kings of yore or to have a glimpse at the temples, churches, monasteries or to witness some other marvels so generously presented by nature. In Goa we are bestowed with the pristine beaches and tourists round the year flock to have a pleasant experience of the massive sea extending endlessly, the colourful sky spreading above and the vast shore alongside to move freely and enjoy. It is a norm everywhere to welcome the tourists with affection knowing very well that the economy in tourist places is heavily dependent on tourism. Likewise we expect the tourists to behave properly with decency, respecting the norms of the place they are in, and confining them absolutely within the law of the land.
As we write this, it deeply pains us to comment about the hell created on this tourist haven by the three holidaymakers from Madhya Pradesh, all in their twenties, by raping a 20-year-old woman and beating her boyfriend at the Betalbatim beach in the darkness of night and making a video clip of the incident and robbing the hapless duo. The incident has sent shock waves in Goa and different groups have rightly suggested that vigilance on the Goan beaches, which are frequented by all groups of people even late in the night, be intensified so that incidents of such kind do not recur.
The police have done their duty and have apprehended the trio within 24 hours and it is made known that the rapists have criminal background against their names. The law will take its course and we want the prosecution to demand the strictest punishment for the accused.
In this turmoil the behaviour of the Mahila Congress creating a commotion at the Margao police station and demanding that the accused be handed over to them, and that they will deal with them, is ridiculous and nothing more than a gimmick to gain political mileage. Criminal jurisprudence in India does not advocate the paradigm of ‘eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth’. All the civilised countries have dissociated from such viewpoint centuries ago.
That apart it is fitting to ask these groups whether they had lodged such demonstration when so many foreign women were molested and raped by the locals. Our only loud cry is that ‘a crime is a crime’, no matter who commits it and against whom.
