Over two months after a 26-year old woman was found na ked in the early hours of August 5, 2025, on the Tar Road in Bastora, the Ma pusa Police have filed an ‘A’ Final Summary before the trial court, citing lack of ev idence against the accused. The move has sparked out rage among women activists in Goa, who say the case ex poses the insensitivity and inefficiency of police han dling of sexual assault cases. According to Mapusa Po lice, the ‘A’ Final Summary was submitted on October 16, 2025, after investigators reportedly found “no direct evidence on record” linking the accused to the crime. FIR No. 116/2025 was registered on August 19–14 days after the incident–un der Sections 333, 140(3), 127(2), 352, 351(3), 118(2), and 70 read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023. The FIR named Miss Janice, daughter of Bruno, along with six unknown male in dividuals as accused. The victim, however, be gan losing faith in the in vestigation when the police named Janice as the main accused while avoiding mentioning Bruno’s name. “By calling me mad, the police thought they could avoid naming Bruno as the real accused,” said the survivor, still struggling to come to terms with the trauma. A note from the Super intendent of Police’s office states that on August 4, 2025, at around 10:30 pm, “accused no. 1, Miss Janice D/o Bruno, criminally tres passed into the complain ant’s residence at Flat No. 5, Christina Apartments, Porvorim, Bardez, Goa, and thereafter forcefully ab ducted her.” “The men who bundled me out of my apartment had the keys–something only Bruno and I had access to,” the survivor recounted. “They covered my head, forced me into a car, and drove for about 20 min utes to a place where I was raped by six men,” she said.
The survivor said, “Later, they gave me something to drink, tied my hands, placed me on a motorbike, and after another 20 minutes, threw me into a field where I regained consciousness.” A Leave and License Agreement dated April 29, 2024, in possession of O Heraldo, shows that the flat from which the woman was abducted was licenced to Bruno Sebas tiao Fernandes. The survivor now alleges that “the police had a hidden agenda from the start to protect the real cul prits.” After being produced before the JMFC, Mapusa, the sur vivor was admitted to the Institute of Psychiatry and Hu man Behaviour (IPHB) on August 5 and discharged on Au gust 11. The discharge note, accessed by O Heraldo, stated she was suffering from an “adjustment disorder.” “The discharge note clearly says she experienced an ex cessive emotional response to stress—it does not suggest she is mentally unsound,” clarified Dr Bossuet Afonso, a well-known physician, when contacted for comment. The survivor claims police ignored her testimony and misled the media. “They told the press Bruno brought me to Goa, which is false. I was hired as a manager in his com pany, Ayurvedic Natural Health Centre Pvt. Ltd., after my previous employers left for America,” she said. A statement recorded by LPSI Harshal Raikar at the Women Police Station in Panjim, a copy of which is with O Heraldo, confirms that the victim was employed by Bruno Fernandes as a manager and was residing in the same flat from which she was allegedly abducted. The police, however, stated that medical examination at GMC Bambolim’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecolo gy found “no fresh evidence of sexual abuse”. “They burnt my private parts with cigarette butts. I still suffer from the pain,” the survivor alleged through tears. “Despite being the victim, GMC refused to give me my med ical report.” Incidentally, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and P B Varale, in a judgment dated March 7, 2025, had ruled that the “lack of injuries to private parts cannot be grounds to discard a prosecutrix’s testimony if her statement is found wholly trustworthy, unshaken, and inspiring confidence.” The SP’s office, in its note to O Heraldo, stated that “tech nical investigation into the victim and accused did not cor roborate the narrative provided by the complainant.” When O Heraldo sought clarification from SP Rahul Gup ta, asking how the victim was found naked on the road and whether the wounds on her body were examined, the of ficer merely responded, “Please wait.” No further reply was received until the time of going to press. Six months before this incident, a 24-year-old woman was found on the streets of Margao after allegedly being raped. Social activist Adv Janaki Shinkre, who found her, said she witnessed firsthand the “apathy and indifference” of authorities. “Neither the police, doctors, nor NGOs came forward to help her. I saw how the system tried to bury the truth,” she said. “There is an urgent need for greater sensitivity and em pathy from authorities when dealing with victims of sexual offences,” reflected High Court advocate Malisa Zemira Si moes. “It is deeply concerning that rape survivors are sent to IPHB, creating the impression that victims are mentally unstable rather than traumatised.
