the goan I network
PANAJI
Twenty-six-year-old Durga Gawde, a sculptor, activist and drag king based in Mumbai was beaten up by a local in Saligao on the night of May 31, and now, the video as well as her standing up for herself and fighting back has gone viral over the past two days.
The 2-minute video shows Durga talking about what she faced and wants the man who assaulted her be put in jail.
Durga told ‘The Goan’ that while she was based in Goa, she now no longer feels safe to travel to Goa, even though she loved Goa. “I feel unsafe because of the way things are in this country,” she said.
On social media, Durga’s post explains that she was on her way to a petrol pump on her bike in Saligao, when she saw a man (Brian Franco) talking on a cell phone while riding his scooter who almost crashed into her.
“When I asked him to get off his phone, he started to use vile words and abused me. I did not want to engage so I drove away. He stalked me and cornered my bike. He removed my bike keys and threw them away and then started to hit my bike and intimidate me. I was not scared, I looked straight into his eyes without fear. He then proceeded to grab me... I couldn’t let someone molest me, I slapped him and what happened after that you can see in the video”, she narrated.
Since a by-stander had filmed the attack, he urged her to go to the cops. She went to the Saligao police station and showed the cops the video. “To my surprise the man who assaulted and molested me, Brian Franco, showed up at the police station complaining that I had hit him and ripped his clothes”, she says.
The Saligao police registered an FIR at 3 in the morning of June 1 and has named 49-year-old Franco as accused. However, when ‘The Goan’ contacted the Saligao police, they confirmed that though arrested, he is out on bail (surety of Rs 20,000).
Durga has said that the cops were helpful and seemed to be on her side. However, while she was giving her statement, Franco got abusive and made sexist remarks at her.
She is also very determined not to be called a ‘victim’. “I am not a victim and I will never be again. I have taken my power back for standing up for myself. I am an out and proud glenderfluid person whose identity is dismissed and constantly deemed invalid over and over again but this is not about that. .”
“The Goan” tried getting in touch with the accused for comment through a family member, who did not wish to get involved. Meanwhile, while the chairperson GSCW was unavailable for comment, Women and Child Minister Vishwajit Rane said Durga would have to make a written complaint to the Commission for the GSCW to pursue the case.
