Team Herald
PANJIM: Mapusa JMFC on Thursday remanded nine tourists from Pune, who were arrested for allegedly molesting a minor girl and assaulting her minor brother at Baga beach, to judicial custody for five days.
Calangute Police Inspector said that nine of the 11 accused have been sent to five days judicial custody at Colvale correction facility. The other two accused, aged 15 are juveniles, have been sent to a protection home in Merces, he said.
The accused have approached the Goa Children’s Court with a bail application. The court on Thursday heard arguments and reserved its order.
As per the complaint filed by the parents, the victims, a 17-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister were on May 29 seated in a shack at Baga beach while their parents were eating nearby. A group of 11 visitors, who arrived from Pune-Maharashtra, started clicking pictures of the girl. When the boy objected to this, they allegedly slapped and beat him.
Calangute police on Thursday arrested all the accused before they could leave the State. The accused included some students and salesmen working in different companies, police said.
Offences were registered against all the accused under Sections 354 (molestation), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 323 (causing hurt), of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Goa Children’s Act.
