Police are examining whether more underage girls were lured through social media
PANAJI
Goa police are probing whether the two accused in the alleged sexual assault of three underage girls in a Calangute hotel were involved in ‘grooming’ other victims, including minors, through social media platforms.
Teenager Altaf Mujawar, a native of Karnataka and Om Naik from Porvorim – both arrested – are being interrogated for the offence and possible links to more victims.
“We are examining whether the duo used social networking apps to lure young girls because in this case, Mujawar trapped one of them through Instagram. The conversation progressed online and she was eventually invited to meet him,” the source told The Goan.
Investigation so far revealed that unaware of the danger, the girl asked two other minors to accompany her to the "Eid party" as described by the accused.
“Mujawar and Naik met the girls at a hilly spot near Porvorim where they allegedly made them consume alcohol before taking them to the hotel. The girls were intoxicated again in the hotel and lodged in separate rooms where the accused sexually assaulted them,” police sources told The Goan.
The victims were reported missing from Agassaim on June 7. As per police details, one of the complainants told police that her two daughters, aged 15 and 13 years, did not return home while another woman, a tenant in the same premises said her 11-year-old daughter had also gone missing and was likely in the company of the other two girls.
It is further learnt that the accused took advantage of the girls being late to leave and decided to keep them at the hotel overnight, planning to drop them home the next morning. By this time, the police had already swung into action.
A senior officer confirmed that the investigation has widened to ascertain whether more girls were similarly approached by the accused. The accused’s social media accounts are also under investigation.
The Victims Assistance Unit had already flagged the urgent need for the government to recognize ‘grooming’ as a serious punishable offence to prevent further action of sexual assault and rape.
“Children's vulnerability is often exploited by adults, not because they lack resistance, but because of circumstances. They are carefully groomed to make them feel helpless and defenceless. This superficial show of care and love by the perpetrators shows only their sexual needs are fulfilled and thereafter they move on to another victim,” VAU head Emidio Pinho told The Goan.
The Unit has assisted around 400 cases related to children including abuse, sexual assault, runaway, etc last year, slightly less than 2023 when the cases were around 500.
Meanwhile, the Calangute police have already sealed the hotel where the minors were allegedly taken. A separate FIR has been registered against the hotel owner Rajan Chauhan, from Haryana, and Manager Mansoor Peer from Jammu & Kashmir.
Chauhan has been arrested for illegally accommodating the minors without parental consent while Peer’s arrest formalities were underway on Friday.
