the goan I network
MARGAO
Asserting that rape is a law of the jungle and that no woman deserves to be violated, women and children’s rights activist Auda Viegas has expressed concern over the rising number of rapes on women and children over the last five years.
While welcoming the Goa government’s decision to compensate victims of rape, Auda, however, cautioned that the government should put in place checks and balances to prevent misuse of the scheme. She also underscored the need to take the rehabilitation scheme for women rescued from human traffickers to the nook and corners of the State.
Addressing the media, Auda said around 1864 women and 1194 children have been victims of rape over the last five years. She said the projection of Goa as a tourist destination for wine, women and sex has created a need for supply of women and children, who are trafficked from source states/countries.
“Child abuse has taken a beastly form with a father sexually abusing his own daughter or the daughter of his friend. The rape of the 14-year-old girl by her own father in Margao is a grim reminder of the sexual abuse against children,” she said.
She said the compensation scheme unveiled by the State government for rape victims is a step in the right direction. She, however, cautioned that care should be taken that the scheme is not misused. “I request the government to come out with rules to prevent misuse of the scheme. The scheme should not be misused like the Laadli Laxmi scheme,” she added.
She pointed out that drug dealers make hay while tourism shines. “Our police have to arrest the kingpins in the drug trade. There is a question that every person living in Goa has to ask what am I doing while a foreigner has the audacity to brew drugs in my country,” she said.
Saying that pointing fingers at the police will not solve the problem, Auda said those involved in the sale of drugs have to be dealt with an iron hand as they are destroying our youth.
Rapist father gets seven days police custody
MARGAO: The father, who was accused of repeatedly raping his minor daughter, has been remanded to seven days police custody. Margao PI Kapil Nayak informed that the accused father was produced in the court on Saturday and the court has remanded him to seven days police custody for the purpose of investigation.
Meanwhile, women and children’s rights activist Auda Viegas said the father deserved the stringent punishment for the rape on her own daughter. “She was not just in the custody of the father, but she was born of his flesh. He deserves stringent punishment,” she said.
Praising the mother for her bold decision to lodge a complaint against her husband for the rape, Auda said that the case came to light after the mother mustered the courage to come out and lodge a police complaint despite hailing from a conservative family.
Saying the victim girl is undergoing treatment, Auda said the victim minor girl needs all the treatment and the care to help her overcome the trauma. “We will arrange accommodation for the mother and daughter if the environment back home is not conducive for them to stay in the house,” Auda said.
