Team Herald
PANJIM: With two undertrials accused of rape giving police a slip during their court appearance in seven months, the mother of a British tourist, who was allegedly murdered at Canacona in March 2017, has demanded that government handcuff the accused, currently facing trial before the District Court, Margao.
Andrea Brannigan, the mother of slain 28-year-old tourist Danielle McLaughlin tweeted that the accused Vikat Bhagat could easily escape just like the two men in separate rape cases despite the presence of police around them. On Sunday, Brannigan posted the picture of Bhagat, who is seen walking with two policemen into the court complex, without handcuffs.
“The accused in my daughter’s murder walking to the court in Goa without handcuffs so he could easily escape as two suspects in two separate rape cases in Goa have escaped in the last six months,” the mother tweeted while tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Herald.
In another tweet, she said, “The accused in my daughter’s murder has no handcuffs and all prisoners of serious crimes should be handcuffed to prevent this from happening.”
Herald contacted a senior IPS officer regarding the demand, to which he said that as per Supreme Court directives, an accused cannot be handcuffed unless there is specific threat. However, in the case of Ishwar Makhwana, who escaped last December, the department had sought permission from the court to handcuff him but the application was turned down.
McLaughlin, originally from the Republic of Ireland, who had lived in
Liverpool for several years, was killed while on holiday in Goa in March 2017. Eyewitnesses had claimed that she was last seen at a Holi party.
Her stripped and battered body was discovered in an isolated field in Canacona following which a massive hunt for the culprit was launched by the Goa Police. A post-mortem examination found the cause of her death was due to brain damage and strangulation.
Bhagat, then aged 24, was identified and arrested. With charge sheet under serious charges filed against him, Bhagat is presently undergoing trial at Margao court.
What has embarrassed the Goa Police is that historysheeter and gang-rape accused Makhwana escaped from police custody on December 10, 2018. He ran away from the TB Hospital where he was admitted for treatment even as the escort team was caught napping.
Last Friday, Ramchandra Yellappa, an undertrial accused of raping a British woman at Canacona escaped from police custody. He too tricked the police pretending to go to the toilet in the court premises at Margao, but made his way out while the escort team kept waiting for him outside. The police higher-ups suspended the policemen in both the cases.
