The house of the deceased which was sealed by the forensic team in Candolim on January 8.
Photo Credits: Agnelo Pereira
This New Year the tragic murder of two innocent children, and the suspected suicide of their alleged murderer, their father Joy Fernandes, shocked Goa.
The heart-rending crime has even perturbed the men-in-khaki who are following up all angles to get to the bottom of the mystery. While the cops are piecing together the chain of events with circumstantial evidence, it is their silence that is deafening. Top officers in the department do not want media attention, arguing that “it could hamper their case during the trial” of the highly sensitive matter.
A lot of questions have surfaced as the killing enters its 10th day today. From registering a State complaint in the case, where a family member is usually the original complainant, to exploring all angles of the double murder and suicide, indicates that the cops are not satisfied yet with what they have detected.
The discussion is still alive in Candolim where the villagers haven’t come to accept that a cheerful and family man like Joy could take a drastic step of killing his own children. The tension is still palpable. The house is now locked by the police until the probe ends.
On that fateful day, Joy apparently left this home around 10 am to hand over some property documents to his nephew, though he barely owned any property. He returned home around 11:30 am where his teenage daughter and her 7-year-old brother were playing. His wife was away.
What happened next, until the bodies were recovered from different places, remains a mystery.
Were the children murdered before their mother reached home post 3:30 pm to get ready for nuptials of a neighbour? Were the children strangulated in the same room and around the same time or in different rooms and their bodies were thereafter rested together? Was there involvement of someone other than Joy that could spin the case into a triple murder? How and why did the duplicate house keys remain inside the house? Why was there a five-hour gap between the wife’s arrival and breaking open of the door?
It was only when the door was broken open that the cold-blooded murder of the two children came to light. The cable wire used to strangulate the children has been confiscated for investigation.
“It’s just one week since the incident. Nothing can be concluded in a short time. Its an ongoing investigation and all angles are being probed,” a police officer said.
It is learnt that the bereaved wife has conceded to the police of a strained relationship between her and her husband. The statement has been confirmed by some relatives and friends to the police.
Stunned into disbelief, friends of Joy are not accepting the murder-suicide theory. Social media has been flooded with messages pouring in for Joy and his children while dismissing the current theory. Irineu Gonsalves, one of Joy’s closest friends, has, on his Facebook page, questioned whether the case is a murder or suicide?
“Going by the comments on the social media over the past two days, all those who knew Joy Fernandes intimately, by all accounts, vouch, Joy was a person who would not even hurt a fly (family),” reads an extract of his long FB post.
He goes on to raise suspicion that the siblings could have been murdered by ‘somebody’ who thereafter killed Joy giving an impression that he died by suicide after the killing. “The alternate theory doing the rounds is that the children must have seen their father being murdered, and because they were witness to the murder, the siblings then were strangulated,” he wrote.
Reacting to Irineu’s post, Minguel Braganza also vouched for Joy stating, “Joy just could not have murdered his own children...grown up children at that...If they were drugged before strangulation...No one will know!”
Milagres Carneiro, Milton Rodrigues, Lourenco Fernandes, Quiteria Mendes, Ibonio D’Souza among a whole lot of the Goan community have come together demanding a thorough investigation into the case.
- Joy allegedly killed his children and then committed suicide
- It was a triple murder
- Joy found the dead bodies of the children and hence committed suicide
- Children saw the murderer of Joy and were killed to eliminate witnesses
- He also won a one-year contract to cater for an engineering college canteen, beginning on January 17, 2023.
- He enrolled both his children in reputed schools and himself paid their fees regularly.
- He asked a friend to hide his house/ property title documents until he requests them returned.
- These indicate he had a steady income and was mentally stable.
- Who could be eyeing his property?
- If he killed his children inside the house, why would he go and hang himself outside? There is a well behind his house, he would have jumped in it if he wanted to commit suicide.
- Why is his mobile phone missing?
- What is the status of CCTV cameras which were installed to keep a watch on their children while they were young
- Why didn’t he leave a suicide note?
