Avinash Tavares
The manner in which the police is investigating the case of the desecration of religious structures in Salcete against Francis Pereira is not only poor and shoddy in quality but is a gross violation of human rights.
I am not claiming his innocence or guilt but questioning the manner in which the police are investigating the case. I was shocked to see that the Goa Police made a man climb a 10+ feet wall to convince god-knows-who that he committed the crime. Is this the level of police investigation skills in Goa? What if he had to fall? Who would be held responsible?
I have several questions regarding the investigation which are as following
Regarding Profile of Suspect: What evidence did police collect at each of the crime scenes? Did the Police create a profile of the possible suspect based on this evidence before Francis was nabbed? Does the suspect match the profile? Which of the evidence points to the suspect and which do not?
Regarding Processing of the Crime Scene and Forensic Evidence: How many finger prints have been collected from the crime scenes? Did the police even have a forensic team on site? Were the police wearing gloves when they were examining the scene? Further, as per reports, 28 niches, 5 crosses, 9 granite crosses, 16 tombs and a big cross atop of the gate was desecrated. Did the police verify whether the tool marks on the niches, crosses, tombs etc match the tool found in the suspect’s possession?
Regarding the Police asking the suspect to climb the wall: Did the police simulate the exact conditions before making the suspect climb the wall? (Was it at night and was it after the intense physical activity of breaking the niches and graves?) What was the purpose behind making him climb the wall? Did the police take care of his safety? Was the suspect given a harness?
Regarding the Video clip of Francis walking on the wall: Who took the video clip of the suspect climbing the wall? Why was it made public? Is it standard procedure to take the suspect to inspect the crime scene and make the suspect simulate the crime and then making the footage public? If the footage was shot by a civilian, who authorised this and why was this allowed? Was the incident a part of police interrogation of the suspect? If so, will future interrogations be allowed to make public? Afterall, all investigations/interrogations are supposed to be confidential.
The Police should have acted professionally and responsibly while handling this matter. I demand that: 1. The actions of police who were involved in making Francis climb the wall, which is a violation of human rights, have to be investigated and its legality be established. 2. Goa Human Rights Commission must take suo moto cognizance of this incident and the police has to bring in strict guidelines on protecting human rights of suspects.
Kindly take necessary action to implement the above in the interest of human rights and protection of citizens against crimes like that of Vasco rape case, Fr Bismarque Dias death etc.
