A massive wave of public anger swept through Mapusa on Sunday as hun dreds of citizens, students, family members and friends staged a candlelight vigil and peaceful protest demanding justice for 22-year-old col lege student Samuel Garvyn De Braganca, who allegedly died by suicide after facing extreme public humiliation over a viral social media vid eo and alleged harassment by Mapusa Police. The agitation intensified following the release of the forensic autopsy report from the Goa Medical College (GMC). While the post-mor tem confirmed that the cause of death was a fatal close-range gunshot wound to the head, it dropped a ma jor investigative bombshell.
A demonstration wound through the town on Sunday night , with leaders issuing a strict four-point ultima tum to the State government which includes immediate suspension of the Mapusa PI and PSI involved in the interrogation, the registra tion of an FIR for abetment of suicide against the policepersonnel and the individu al who originally filmed and circulated the viral video, the immediate transfer of the case file away from the Mapusa Police Station to the Crime Branch to prevent a tainted internal cover-up and a strict regulatory in quiry into local social me dia handles that published unverified clips, fuelling targeted cyber-harassment against the youth. Crisann de Braganca, Samuel’s sister, speaking to mediapersons at the protest site, detailed the harrowing administrative roadblocks and mental trauma the fam ily faced. “The police didn’t want to give us the post-mortem report. Yesterday, we went there and they made us wait the whole day and were told to file an RTI. We didn’t know anything until we fi nally saw the post-mortem report,” Crisann said. “My brother didn’t even tell us anything about what happened inside the sta tion because the cops told us, ‘You stay out, you stay out! Only he can come in’. So we stayed outside while he (Samuel) went inside. We don’t know a single thing about what they did or what happened to him (Samuel) inside that room.
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An FIR was continuously pushed. Samuel was so afraid and completely traumatised; he just couldn’t take it. Social media pages openly showed his face. He didn’t want an yone to find out we were dragged to a police station, but the FIR details were instantly posted on social media. Everyone found out. His phone number and his vehicle number plate went completely viral online; he couldn’t handle it, she said. “I request the higher au thorities to take care of this matter and give justice to my brother, because this can happen to anyone else’s child,” she said. He was such a sweet, innocent person who never did anything bad to anyone. The post-mortem report has officially mentioned serious internal injuries. We want this thing to end, the case to close, and all the responsible officers suspend ed immediately. My brother even apologised to them over there; he said sorry repeatedly, but they still destroyed him on social media,” Crisann said. Speakers openly blamed structural failures within the Mapusa Municipality and local politicians. They stated that the local door-to-door garbage collection is highly irregular and completely drops the ball. They condemned local digital media channels that posted Samuel’s face, name, and vehicle registration number plate without blurring them.
This ex posed his family to severe cyber-harassment and online abuse. Meanwhile, the post-mortem examination of 22-year-old Samuel Garvyn De Braganca revealed that he sustained a blunt-force injury to the face before suf fering the fatal gunshot wound. According to the autopsy report, the fatal injury was a gunshot wound that entered the right temporal region of the head, traversed the skull and brain, and exited through the left occipital region. The injury resulted in extensive brain destruction, skull fractures and intracranial hemorrhage. Doctors opined that the gunshot injury was fresh at the time of death and was necessarily fatal. The report also documented a separate blunt-force injury involving swelling, bruising and hemorrhage around the right eye and facial region, along with frac tures of the orbital and adjacent facial bones.
The medical officer concluded that this injury had been sustained within 24 hours prior to death and was inflicted while the deceased was alive. The autopsy findings indicate that the deceased first suffered the blunt-force injury and was subsequently shot in the head. The cause of death has been cer tified as cervico-cranio-cerebral damage due to a discharged firearm projectile (gunshot injury) described as injury no. 1, with injury no. 2 being a contributory but non-fatal injury. The findings are expected to play an important role in establishing the se quence of events leading to the death and whether the deceased was subjected to an assault before the fatal shooting. “This is not just a suicide case — this is a serious matter that demands an inde pendent probe. How can the same police officers investigate themselves? There must be accountability — from the police officials involved to those who circu lated the viral video that led to public humiliation,” said Adv Pratima Coutinho.
Congress leader Vijay Bhike said, “There are too many unanswered questions in this case—from the injuries found in the post-mortem to the source of the weapon. This is not just about one youth, this is about justice and ensuring such incidents do not happen again. The authorities must act transparently.” Meanwhile Bailancho Ekvott has raised concerns over the handling of a recent garbage dumping incident involving a 22-year-old youth who allegedly died by suicide following public backlash and legal action after a video of him dumping household waste went viral. Auda Viegas, President, Bailancho Ekvott said the incident highlighted the larger issue of poor waste management and rampant littering across Goa. The organisation noted that garbage dumping along roadsides, water bodies, beach es and other public spaces has become a growing concern and called for stricter enforcement against all offenders. Bailancho Ekvott questioned whether adequate consideration was given to the circumstances surrounding the youth before legal action was initiated.
The group also raised concerns about the filming and circulation of the video, alleg ing that the youth was reprimanded, publicly shamed and subjected to wide spread criticism on social media. “A young life has been lost due to callousness, criticism, condemnation, humil iation and the FIR. How many punishments should be imposed for one offence?” asked Auda Viegas. The organisation questioned the registration of an FIR under Section 271 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and asked whether the waste involved had been properly examined before the offence was invoked. It also sought to know why a monetary penalty was not considered instead of criminal proceedings. Viegas said the incident should serve as a wake-up call for authorities to ad dress the larger issue of indiscriminate garbage dumping. “If the government and police are serious about tackling garbage, they must send a strong deterrent message by acting against all those who dump waste in open spaces, rivers, water bodies, forests and beaches,” she said.
The organisation also urged authorities to intensify efforts against the illegal use of country-made firearms and called for measures to restore Goa’s natural beauty, safety and environmental security. Bailancho Ekvott maintained that while littering is unacceptable and must be punished, enforcement should be fair, proportionate and consistent across all cases. Naushad Chaudhary, State General Secretary of the Goa Pradesh Youth Con gress, “The revelations in the post-mortem report are deeply disturbing and raise serious questions about what really happened before Samuel’s death. This is not a case that can be brushed aside as suicide.” “We stand firmly with the family in their fight for justice. There must be a fair, transparent, and independent investigation, and strict action should be taken against anyone found responsible. The growing public outrage reflects a larger concern about accountability. The truth must come out, and justice must not be delayed,” Chaudhary added.
