TEAM HERALD
CANACONA: Police have refuted allegations that they have been lax in taking action in an attempted rape against a German national. They maintain investigations into the alleged molestation, which is not an attempted rape, have begun, even as they claimed the German woman is not traceable.
The police have also flatly denied any lapses on their part and said they acted as demanded by the complainant. They said the woman kept on changing her approach. After pressure, a complaint was registered and the accused arrested – but released in half a day.
According to the complaint, rickshaw driver Chetan Namshikar is alleged to have picked up the woman on December 5 from a party spot at Keri-Agonda to drop her to her rented room on Agonda beach. Instead, on reaching a desolated spot, he took the rickshaw away from the main road, through a pathway and stopped, before attacking her at about 2.30 am.
The lady is learnt to have freed herself from his clutches and run onto the main road towards Agonda beach. She allegedly knocked on at least two houses one of which was reportedly empty, before entering her residential hut on Agonda beach.
According to locals and sources, the woman had approached Agonda Police Outpost on the morning of December 6 to complain against Namshikar for making unwanted advances at her and she told them that the police were non-cooperative and refused to take note of her complaint.
She alleged that when she demanded action, the policemen instead of taking on the driver for his behavior in attempting to rape her abused her in the driver’s presence. People in the locality claim to have seen her coming out of the police outpost with tears in her eyes.
When contacted Canacona PSI Prashal Desai denied police inaction or delay, and asserted that they acted in accordance with the complaint filed at the police station.
“Presently due to her non-availability police investigations are heading nowhere. Never have we denied registering her complaint but acted as she wanted, PSI Dessai
maintained.
