Anonymous letter professes ‘undying love’, wants her to accept his ‘proposals’
VIBHA VERMA
vibha@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: An anonymous inland letter written in Marathi has been received by the lone surviving 26-year-old victim of serial killer-cum-rapist Mahanand Naik, in which the victim has been intimidated by the author of the letter who professes “undying love” and claims his intention is to “marry” her. The letter has even dragged the victim’s younger sister into the ambit of intimidation by addressing her directly and telling her to “convince her elder sister” to accept his “proposals”.
Police told Herald they would be investigating whether the author of this anonymous letter was Mahanand himself who, incidentally, is lodged in Aguada Jail. The “dupatta killer”~ as Mahanand was termed in the media following his crimes~ is currently also under investigation by authorities following an earlier Herald expose for having made threatening phone calls and sending objectionable SMSes to the lone surviving victim from jail. Now, the receipt of the anonymous letter has sparked fear among the victim and her younger sister, who are orphans.
A South Goa-based women’s organization which was approached by the victim has sent a complaint to the Ponda police station stating that it suspects the rapist-cum-killer who hails from Ponda has once again begun threatening his lone surviving victim, and this time has also targeted her younger sister. Police sources, however, said who had actually written the letter would only be established after a thorough probe. The handwritten letter, interestingly, was delivered from the Ponda post office earlier this month and has an obviously fictitious name as the sender. Mahanand has been imprisoned in Aguada Jail for over a year now.
The contents of the anonymous letter, a copy of which is in the possession of Herald, seems to be inspired by a C-Grade Bollywood potboiler and contains a demand made to both the victim and her younger sister to “give her (the victim) back to me”. The author of the anonymous letter swears that he will “marry the victim once I am out from jail”. “I am ready to go through any suffering for her (the victim) but if anyone troubles her, I will not keep quiet… I will really marry her,” the letter which has the sender’s name as ‘Ladaki Parwar’ reads. While “forgiving” the victim for her past police complaints, the author of the letter says it doesn’t bother him if he “faces fresh police cases”. While naming the victim 10 times in the letter, the author writes he is “ready to give up his life” for her.
In truly pathetic filmy style and clearly aimed at, the letter replaces the victim’s surname with that of Mahanand Naik, following the tradition of married women taking their husband’s surname. “I believe in you, my nice (victim’s name),” says this rather blatant attempt to intimidate a rape victim.
Activist Auda Veigas, who is assisting the victim, has demanded a thorough probe and immediate action. Ponda Police Inspector CL Patil, when contacted, said he is yet to formally receive the complaint.
“Once we receive it, we will first have to verify the contents, establish the identity of the author of the letter and then take action,” he told Herald. The letter is likely to be sent for a handwriting analysis to a forensic laboratory outside Goa.
This new twist comes nearly four months after the 26-year-old victim, whose testimony succeeded in the first conviction for Mahanand, had complained that he made harassing phone calls and sent ranting SMSes to her mobile phone. Police investigations were initiated but there was no recovery of the mobile phone or SIM card though it was established through mobile tower locations that calls were made from the Aguada Jail.
