MARGAO: Even as the Vanita Gaonkar Ladli Laxmi harassment case has created widespread reaction in the society following media coverage, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Quepem Shankar Gaonkar has recorded 3 more witnesses’ statements and is now waiting for the post-mortem report which may be released on Wednesday.
The Quepem MLA Babu Kavlekar and the South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar haven’t joined the fight for Justice for Vanita yet. What is stopping them? Don’t they have children? Don’t they have responsibility as public representatives?
Meanwhile, people from all walks of life have expressed their displeasure over the handling of the case and have demanded more stringent procedures in the release of the scheme money.
The Quepem SDM was on Tuesday busy recording statements of witnesses living near Vanita’s in-laws’ house. He said, “We have recorded three statements today and hope that some more people might speak up to seek justice for Vanita.”
But Vanita herself has raised her own hand to fight for her own justice when she gave a dying declaration that she took the extreme step of consuming pesticide because she was harassed by her in-laws who demanded the money she received under the Laadli Lakshmi scheme.
The SDM’s version is that the probe is aimed at getting statements of the neighbours to build a strong case in the death of Vanita Gaonkar. Activist Tara Kerkar has, meanwhile, lashed out at the investigation and said “The probe lacks conviction and they are going easy on a case with so much importance and clear allegations,” she said.
The chief of Goa Mahila Shakti Abhiyan Nelly Rodrigues has highly condemned the act and said such an unfortunate incident should never happen. “The investigation in such cases has to be much faster and conviction has to be more intense and it has to set an example to avoid any such cases in the future,” said Nelly. She has also called for a mechanism to curb such cases like an affidavit or undertaking which can be made a part of the scheme which will be a boon if a girl complains of harassment. Nelly said that the scheme is good but the incident is condemnable.
Narendra Sawaikar, South Goa MP, urged people not to misuse the scheme. Condemning the incident, he said, “It is an unfortunate case and has to be condemned by the local MLA intensely. He was hopeful of the police probe and expected to see results soon,” he said.
After reading the matter in Herald, Goan Richa Raikar, studying in the UK, expressed deep anguish over the incident. “It is a very shameful incident more so that no action has been taken so far,” she said.
“The Goa government only wakes up from its slumber when the media creates ripples through reporting and coverage. It clearly shows that the state machinery needs to do a lot to improve the law and order situation,” she said.
(Herald seeks more reactions from the people of Goa. Please email editor@herald-goa.com or Facebook or Tweet in your responses on the Herald Facebook page and to the herald twitter handle @oheraldogoa)
