-------------
EXTENSION
OF CUSTODY
BY 11 DAYS
* Goa Children's Court extended the judicial custody of Philip Fernandes
* Philip is accused of killing his two children on December 26, 2015
* Philip was previously remanded to 14 days judicial custody
* The investigating team took him back to IPHB after the court order
* Charge sheet is yet to be filed, though probe is in initial stages
------------
PANAJI: Even as the judicial custody of Philip Fernandes (43), accused of killing his two children in the early hours of December 26, 2015 in Candolim, was extended by 11 days by the Goa Children’s Court on Monday, the police investigation into the double murder case may have arrived at an unexpected hurdle with Svetlana, his Belarusian wife stating that she may not be a witness to the shocking incident.
In her statement, Svetlana has claimed that after being beaten up mercilessly by her husband, she fell unconscious and remained in that state while Philip killed Elijah (9) and Katrina (3).
Although the police investigation continues to be in its initial stages and chargesheet yet to be filed in the case, Calangute police appear to have arrived at an unfortunate hurdle with the likely loss of cooperation from a possible key witness in the case.
Philip was previously remanded to 14 days judicial custody, at the end of which he was presented before Children’s Court on Monday by Calangute Police. He was later taken back to Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB) by the investigating team.
Highly placed sources disclosed that after committing the crime, the accused himself went to the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Bambolim. He was sent to IPHB again by the police after registering the crime under Section 302 of IPC. However, IPHB report does not contain anything of great magnitude, it has been learnt.
In his statement to the police, Philip had said that he had a vision of threat to the life of his kids, so he held them tightly, thereby killing them.
Yet, on the backdrop of Svetlana’s statement, the prosecution will have to seek a different path in proving that Philip was not in an insane or mentally unstable state when he committed the crime.
Calangute police stated that after being treated at the Goa Medical College for the grievous injuries she sustained during the incident, Svetlana was sent home.
