VASCO
A large crowd of Muslims gathered outside the police station on Tuesday evening to demand the arrest of Tara Kerkar and the release of their cleric, Sarfraz Ahmed, who is accused in the molestation of a minor girl.
The crowd was seen demanding the release of their cleric and the arrest of Kerkar, after alleging that Kerkar had assaulted the wife of the cleric during the panchanama of the site and had fled.
Speaking to The Goan, Kerkar stated that as per the request of Vasco police, she along with the victim and a police team had visited the crime scene on Tuesday evening.
“On reaching the site, the wife of the cleric along with other ladies began abusing the victim using foul language. Sensing trouble for the victim and for myself, I along with the police team left the site and returned to the police station,” said Kerkar.
When it was brought to her notice that a crowd had alleged that she had assaulted the cleric’s wife and had even tried to remove the scarf from her face, Kerkar refuted the allegations.
“Though the cleric’s wife was wearing the burka, her face was not covered and I did not try to remove it from her face,” insisted Kerkar.
Speaking to reporters, Vasco Police Inspector Sagar Ikoskar stated that the cleric’s wife, Sajida Khatun, had filed a complaint against the panch witness for inappropriately touching the ladies from behind, as well as against Kerkar for twisting the hand of one of the women, Sakina, besides pushing others. “While the panch witness, Sushil Kumar Pillai (25) has been arrested under Section 151 of IPC, legal action will be initiated against Kerkar based on the complaint,” said PI Ekoskar.
PI Ekoskar informed that the accused, Sarfraz Ahmed, has been remanded to eight days in police custody, as further investigations are
in progress.
