VASCO
Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho on Monday facilitated an initiative to provide free transport to crime victims, particularly women and children from remote areas, to courts and back, ensuring lack of transportation does not hinder access to justice.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between GoaMiles and Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) Goa in the presence of Godinho and Panaji Mayor Rohit Monserrate.
GoaMiles will provide free taxi services to victims travelling to court while maintaining the confidentiality of their identities and cases.
Godinho called it a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, saying victims in remote villages would receive transport support without bearing any costs.
“This is a unique initiative pushed by Panaji Mayor Rohit Monserrate and it is the first of its kind in the country where transport assistance is being provided to victims in remote villages across Goa. All the costs will be borne by these companies and not by the victims,” said Godinho.
He thanked Monserrate for bringing the stakeholders together. Monserrate also thanked Godinho, GoaMiles and SCAN Goa, saying transport should not delay or deny justice to victims.
A SCAN Goa official said the organisation has worked since 2019 with children in conflict with the law, children requiring care and protection, and women facing violence. It works with the Goa Police and judicial system through counsellors, lawyers and social workers, assisting victims throughout police and court proceedings, including when they depose in court.
The official said transport remained a major gap. Though courts may provide ‘bhatta’ for travel, victims or accompanying family members often do not receive it.
Citing a child from remote Canacona, the official said the child may have to take multiple buses to reach Panaji, where Goa’s only Children’s Court and POCSO Court are located. “Travel itself is a trauma,” the official said, adding that the MOU would enable victims to travel safely and free of cost from home to court and back.
