MARGAO: Over four days since Vanita Gaonkar’s death, and despite a dying declaration from her, the police are yet to make an arrest in the case.
Vanita died after she consumed pesticide tired of harassment inflicted by her in-laws demanding money from the Ladli Laxmi scheme. Vanita (23) breathed her last on September 30 after 13 days at GMC. She was married to Videsh Gaonkar of Malkarne.
On Monday Vanita’s mother and brother were called by the Quepem Magistrate to record their statements. The Magistrate has so far recorded the statements of some witnesses and said he had received the dying declaration report from the Executive Magistrate. He will record more statements on Tuesday.
“I am waiting for the post-mortem report. The police have registered the FIR and if she was alive and under treatment the police would be investigating the case. But since she has expired it is for me to investigate,” Sub Divisional Magistrate Shankar Gaonkar said.
“I have conducted the inquest panchanama and also the panchanama of the sites has been completed,” he said. The SDM said that he is waiting for the post-mortem report and an inquiry is going on.
Tara Kerkar, who is with the NGO Savera assisting in the case, said that Vanita’s brother who has passed Class XII had asked for the money for further studies. The in-laws did not like this, she said.
“Vanita was in distress and time and again informed her mother regarding the harassment of the in-laws until the tipping point arrived and she took the drastic decision,” Kerkar said. Both the families are poor farmers in the village of Malkarne.
Quepem police have registered a case of unnatural death but Kerkar has demanded that an offence for demands of dowry, harassment of newly married woman and making the family responsible of the death be registered against her father-in-law Ganesh Gaonkar, husband Videsh Gaonkar and others of the family.
