Team Herald
PANJIM: Joy Fernandes, who hanged himself and who is a prime suspect in murder of his two children, was an aspiring politician and hard core Konkani language and culture follower and promoter.
Fernandes’ death has cast a pall of gloom amongst his friends in Candolim.
As per information, Fernandes had unsuccessfully contested the ZillaPanchayat (ZP) by-polls in August 2017 on the Congress ticket.
At that time, he was the Calangute block Congress committee president.
Before that,from 1994-1998, he worked in the office of the then Goa Assembly Speaker Tomazinho Cardozo. He was also the publisher of Konknni Times, a monthly bilingual magazine in English and Konkani.
“He was working in my office during my tenure as Speaker of the Goa Assembly. When we established Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) in 2009, I took him there and he was working there as cultural organizer,” Cardozo said.
Cardozo said that Joy resigned from the Academy, almost a year after his term ended. Reportedly, he was also the former Estate Officer at Padre Conceicao College of Engineering (PCCE).
Friends said that Joy would always reach out to anyone in need and was a passionate social worker.
General Secretary of Jagotik Konkani Songhotton (JKS), Mengaluru Eric Ozario expressed shock over the tragic death of Joy. “We are shocked and sad. He was a very good and humble person,” he said. In October 2019, Joy was unanimously elected as the President of JKS and his term ended in 2021.
Joy’s eight-year-old son Joseph was to recieve his First Holy Communion on January 15 (Sunday), and Joy had booked a hall at Penha da Franca for the celebration.
Sources said that Joy had bagged the contract to run the canteen at FrAgnel Central School, Pilar, and he was to start on January 16, a day after his son’s First Holy Communion.
Sources also said that a few days back, Joy handed over all the ancestral house papers to a relative, and when asked why he was handing over the papers, Joy told his relative to keep them in his custody and that he will ask for them when required.
Neighbours told Herald that Joy was to be the toastmaster at his neighbour’s wedding reception on Saturday, however, a few days ago he excused himself and told the family to look out for someone else.
Joy was passionate about tiatr and had an excellent rapport with all the directors, actors and other members of the tiatr fraternity.