PANJIM: The ongoing investigation into the horrific gang-rape at Calangute is unearthing sickening details. Herald has now learnt from sources in the investigating team that the women who were raped were first filmed while being stripped naked and made to call out loud that they were drug peddlers and prostitutes.
“The woman gang member, who is presently at large, had stripped of their (victims’) clothes in the guise of searching them for drugs. This was filmed by the men,” an officer said.
“She not only stripped off their clothes but also took two packets containing a tobacco-like substance and threatened to arrest the girls claiming it contained ganja. They were later beaten and raped by the men,” the officer added.
The gang had impersonated anti-narcotics cell (ANC) sleuths to commit the crime on Tuesday night.
Anjuna police have seized the mobile phone from the arrested accused, all of whom are undergoing custodial interrogation for the offence. They have been charged with gang rape, impersonation, assault, extortion and wrongful restraint. The only woman in the gang has managed to evade the cops.
The victims’ statements were recorded before the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) Mapusa under Section 164 of the CrPC on Friday.
Complainant Abhijit Kochrekar, who ferried the girls in his taxi from Siolim, said he was forced to drive to a 2 bedroom flat at Kobrawado (Calangute) where he and the two girls were held hostages in separate rooms. The accused were also heard demanding ransom from an unknown person through a mobile phone.
The north Goa district police are also investigating the antecedents of the victim, both of whom are regular visitors to Goa. Sources said one of them had visited Goa about five months ago and had lived at a rented house in Siolim, the same place where they are presently staying.
