PANAJI: Mapusa Police have arrested 28-year-old Pundalik Karappa Gudge, a native of Dharwad, Karnataka, in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a four-year-old girl inside an abandoned building near Lohia Ground in Mapusa on Diwali night.
North Goa Superintendent of Police Rahul Gupta said the accused was apprehended around 7 am on Wednesday following an intensive search operation across Mapusa, Panaji, Margao and Vasco.
Addressing a press conference, Gupta said the case initially posed a major challenge as investigators had no information about the identity of the child or the accused. “When we began investigating, it became clear that it was a completely blind case. We had no identification of the girl, no idea who her parents were and absolutely no clue about the accused,” Gupta said.
Police received information at around 10.15 pm on November 8 that a girl had been found in a disturbing condition near Ram Manohar Lohia Park. Police personnel immediately reached the spot and began questioning people in the area. Investigators subsequently identified the child's father with the help of eyewitnesses. Police said the father, a daily-wage labourer in the market area, told them that the girl had been with him until around 6 pm, after which she went missing. He had searched for her on his own but had not approached the police.
According to Gupta, CCTV footage from an area where a brawl had taken place around 7 pm helped investigators establish the sequence of events and identify people present there. Police then obtained CCTV footage from near the crime scene, which showed a man whose physical appearance was recognised by another roadside labourer. “The identity of the man was established by the following evening. We then began searching for him, but he was not to be found,” the SP said.
The investigation was further complicated by the fact that the accused did not possess a mobile phone or have any digital footprint that could help police trace him. Investigators initially had limited information about his identity, including that he hailed from Karnataka and spoke only Kannada.
Police teams were deployed in plain clothes across Mapusa, while simultaneous searches were conducted at Panaji, Margao railway station and bus stand, and Vasco railway station and bus stand. “Our operation had been underway since yesterday, and this morning at around 7 or 7.30 am, we achieved a breakthrough. One of our personnel spotted him, following which the team apprehended him,” Gupta said.
Gupta said forensic evidence and CCTV footage helped establish the accused's connection with the crime. A forensic science team and dog squad visited the scene, where police seized a bag, a bedsheet and the child's frock. The bag was identified as belonging to the accused, with investigators also verifying its ownership through people familiar with him. “The bag that was found belongs to him. He himself identified it, saying, ‘It is my bag,’ and he has also confessed to the crime. When we interrogated him this morning, he confessed that he committed the crime,” Gupta said.
Police identified the accused as Pundalik Karappa Gudge, aged 28, who was residing near Mapusa bus stand and hails from the Hubballi-Dharwad region of Karnataka. He has reportedly been in Goa for around six to eight months. An FIR has been registered under Sections 137(2) and 65(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sections 8 and 8(2) of the Goa Children's Act, and Sections 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The SP said the investigation would continue, with police focusing on collecting further scientific evidence and filing the chargesheet at the earliest. “Our primary objective is to conduct the best possible scientific investigation, file the chargesheet as quickly as possible and ensure a fair and speedy trial so that the accused receives punishment at the earliest,” he said. When asked about the child's condition, Gupta said she was stable and that police were coordinating with counsellors and an NGO to communicate with her and provide support.
He added that preliminary questioning indicated that the accused had travelled on foot, while further details would emerge during the investigation. Gupta also denied reports that police had initially detained the accused and subsequently released him due to a lack of identification. “That is not true at all. Someone has given you incorrect information. Whoever was rounded up was mostly kept at the police station. They were not allowed to go outside and, if permitted to leave, were summoned back,” he said.
When asked about the motive, the SP described the accused's alleged actions as stemming from a “twisted mind”, adding that police were yet to establish whether he had any previous criminal record.
Gupta credited the breakthrough to the coordinated efforts of Mapusa Police, the Crime Branch and personnel from other police stations. He also appealed to shopkeepers and residents to strengthen CCTV coverage in public areas. “If you are putting up four cameras for your shop, install a fifth one facing outside for the police; it will assist us greatly,” he said.
