CANACONA
Police investigations into the murder of Sonia Monterio e Pereira (33), who was allegedly shot dead by her husband, Alfred Pereira (43), at the gate of their house at Agonda on Saturday night have revealed that the murder was premeditated and meticulously planned because of a marital discord.
Further details of the gruesome crime were revealed on Sunday after police brought the accused to the house on Sunday morning, to get him to provide information into the incident as part of the investigations under the supervision of Canacona PI Tulsidas Naik and DySP and SDPO Shivendu Bhushan.
The police team with the help of forensic experts were busy gathering evidence from the crime since the wee hours of Sunday.
While police sources initially believed that Alfred had shot dead Sonia at point-blank range, it was later revealed that he was on the terrace of their house when he fired at Sonia as she opened the gate of the house.
“The murder was premeditated and meticulously executed,” said Canacona PI Tulsidas Naik, who was personally leading the investigation into the murder.
“The accused shot Sonia from the terrace a SBBL (single bore country made gun) gun from a distance of about 9 metres. The accused remained hidden on the terrace, while other family members were inside the house and awaiting the arrival of Sonia from work.”
“As she opened the gate to enter the compound, she was shot just below the left side of her chest and collapsed on the ground,” said PI Naik.
“While police investigation is still underway, the motive for the cold-blooded murder appears to be marital discord. The woman had gained employment against his wishes and despite his requests, she refused to leave her job.”
“Alfred had a marital discord with his wife for the past few years and had allegedly shot her on suspicion of having an extra-marital affair,” PI Naik added.
Alfred is originally from Molkormem-Quepem and was residing with his in-laws in Agonda following his marriage to Sonia. The couple then moved to their own house in another part of the village.
While police sources had initially claimed that the accused had handed over the weapon to police at the Canacona Police Station, the gun was recovered from the terrace, after the accused had led police to the location of the weapon.
PI Naik could not provide much details on the gun used in the crime.
“We are yet to take up investigation on how the gun was obtained by the accused. All we can say is that it is a single bore gun.”
According to family sources, Alfred and Sonia were involved in constant arguments since the last one month.
“Police was informed that Alfred had threatened his wife with dire consequences and police were requested to control the violent behaviour of Alfred,” said a source.
“As part of efforts to resolve the family tension, police had reportedly asked Alfred to leave the house by Sunday and not to interfere with the family, especially his wife and their children.” “Alfred is learnt to have assured police that he would leave the house by Sunday, but committed the heinous crime the previous night,” the source added.
When asked if the family had complained to police that Alfred had planned to cause harm to Sonia, PI Naik replied: “No such complaint was made to police. The police was only informed about their marital discord and that too, only a day before the murder but there was no mention of any gun.”
