PONDA: Talavalim Sarpanch Dilesh Gaonkar has said that the husband of the woman who was rescued from 11 years of confinement in the village, though known to him well, was tight-lipped about his wife’s condition all these years.
On Tuesday, Rajeshri Rajendra Fadte (50) was rescued by a team of woman police and members of a Bambolim based NGO Scan Goa.
Her husband Rajendra Fadte told the police that he married Rajeshri around 15 years ago, but within a year she was afflicted with serious illness due to which she became physically and mentally handicapped; that for five years he took good care of Rajeshri and thereafter due to his financial conditions, he couldn’t continue with the same care. The accused husband reportedly earns his living as a fisherman.
Later, around 11 years ago he got married to another woman and shifted to a rented house at Kavlem, keeping his first wife alone at his house at Talavalim. Currently, Rajendra is living with his second wife, six-year-old son and a bedridden father.
Gaonkar said that Rajendra has been visiting the panchayat for his work but never talked about his wife being ill and residing alone in house at Talavalim.
Meanwhile, Gaonkar appealed to the public and NGOs, when they come across such cases, report the same to the panchayat authorities so that the local authorities also could help such victims.
“The local MLA and PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar is always cooperative and if the case had been brought to his knowledge he could have provided necessary help,” the sarpanch said even as he wished that such incident should never happen to anyone.
When spoke to the people in the locality where the woman was kept in confinement, it came to light that Rajendra was daily seen visiting his ancestral house with biscuits, water bottle and food. Though the locals said that the victim’s husband does not have any criminal record, but they criticised him for keeping his wife in solitary confinement and in an unhygienic place.
Though the ancestral house of Rajendra had electric connection, but the same was reportedly disconnected due to non-payment of bills.
