Cops arrest rape suspect after a year

PANJIM, FEB 17
The Panjim police on Tuesday claimed they have arrested the man who raped a British national in January 2008 after getting a tip off of his being strongly involved in the crime.
Police Inspector Francisco Corte said 26-year-old Lawrence Dias from Merces, who was arrested in the crime, confessed to raping  the 32-year-old foreigner at the Merces spring on January 11 night. 
The woman was allegedly raped by Dias after she asked a lift from him to travel to Nachinola, close to Aldona, where she lived. She was picked up by the accused from Kala Academy where she had come to attend the music concert at 7 pm.
Dias, who is a daily wage worker, had told his victim he was going to Porvorim and would drop her to Mapusa for a small amount. Instead, he took her to Merces spring, where he outraged her modesty. 
The accused after committing the offence dropped the woman on a lonely stretch in an injured condition on the military plateau after Apna Ghar. To her good fortune two youth who spotted her dropped her at Rego hotel in the city from where a friend picked her up.
The police had gone into an overdrive after the incident and questioned several youth from the surrounding areas of Panjim. As per the description of the foreigner a sketch was drawn, which the police claimed resembled the face of the accused.