Team Herald
OLD GOA: Attempts by a family to stop the construction work of St Cruz High School created tension at Santa Cruz, on Friday, with more than 500 angry villagers gathering near the school to thwart the attempt by the said family.
The incident occurred at around 4 pm, when the said family – who are fighting a legal battle for ownership of the property of the Santa Cruz church, where the school stands, came accompanied by police and tried to stop the work that was going on inside the school premises.
On getting to know about the incident, Santa Cruz church parish priest and St Cruz High School Manager, Fr Alexander Pereira, went to the school to inquire and told the concerned family to stay away from the school premises.
At this point, villagers who had gathered for a funeral in the adjacent cemetery came to know about the incident and they too joined the chorus demanding that the family leave the school premises.
Some villagers started peeling the Church bell and very soon the gathering of the villagers swelled to more than 500.
As the family members were leaving the school premises, they were heckled by the villagers and even some members of the media were manhandled by some locals apparently anguished over the media trying to speak to the concerned family members.
Some villagers even threatened the media persons that they will break their cameras if attempt was made to film the incident.
The situation came under control only when the police told both the parties to report to the police station.
Later, narrating the incident to the media, Fr Pereira said that it was not right on the part of the concerned family to enter the school premises without consulting him and cited it as the reason behind the commotion that ensued.
When contacted, Francisco Soares, the man who is fighting the legal battle with the Santa Cruz church said that he had gone to the school as there was work undertaken there. He said that the BDO has granted stay on any work at the site and hence no work can be undertaken.
However the school authorities stated that the stay pertains only to the new structure that is being constructed and no work was undertaken there. “Work was only undertaken to repair the toilets,” informed the authorities while stating that the students should not be made to suffer.
