Team Herald
MARGAO: In a startling development, it has emerged that Saleem Dambal, the man arrested for the brutal murder of a six-year-old girl in Macasana-Curtorim, is not her biological father, as previously believed. Police sources have confirmed that the actual father of the deceased child is Humanta Rao, who rushed to Maina-Curtorim upon learning of his daughter’s death and was present during her cremation, which was conducted in Margao.
Dambal, a 28-year-old native of Gadag, Karnataka, had been absconding since the crime and was apprehended by Maina-Curtorim Police in his hometown. A police team was sent to Gadag, where he was arrested and brought back to Margao.
According to police, Dambal is unmarried and is alleged to have an extramarital relationship with the girl’s mother. He had brought the victim, her mother, and younger brother to Macasana, where the four were living in a roadside hut. The heinous crime occurred late at night when Dambal, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, struck the girl with a wooden rod over a petty argument, resulting in her death. After the assault, Dambal and the victim’s mother took the unconscious child to the Primary Health Centre in Curtorim, where she was declared dead.
Immediately after the incident, Dambal fled the scene. Police investigations revealed that he had taken a lift from a passing vehicle, boarded a train from a nearby station to Thivim, and then travelled by bus to Karnataka in an effort to evade arrest.
CCTV footage from nearby locations was also collected and analysed as part of the investigation. Based on the evidence and technical surveillance, Maina-Curtorim Police successfully tracked down the accused and took him into custody.
Maina-Curtorim Police have registered a case under Sections 103(1) and 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Section 8(2) of the Goa Children’s Act. The accused has been remanded to seven days of police custody as investigations continue.
The motive behind the gruesome act remains unclear. However, police sources said further inquiry is underway to establish the full chain of events and any underlying causes that led to the fatal assault.
This incident marks the second murder reported in the jurisdiction of the Maina-Curtorim Police Station within just 15 days. Earlier, a man from Odisha was found murdered in a rented room in Raia.