PANAJI
More than 13 years after a seven-year-old schoolgirl was allegedly sexually assaulted inside the toilet of her school, the Children’s Court has accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) closure report, ultimately bringing to a close the case that ended without an accused despite years of probe by the country’s premier investigating agency.
The case was one of Goa’s most disturbing and closely watched criminal investigations.
The assault took place on January 14, 2013, inside a school in Mormugao taluka. The FIR was initially investigated by the local police before being transferred to the Crime Branch. Amid mounting public pressure and demands from the victim’s family and civil society groups, the State government then handed the probe to the CBI later that year.
The agency released sketches of the suspected offender, questioned school staff, relatives and other witnesses, conducted DNA tests on more than 14 suspects, held identification parades of eight persons and compared fingerprints of nine suspects. Yet none of the leads established the identity of the assailant.
The investigation also came under scrutiny after allegations that crucial forensic evidence was destroyed when the child was bathed by her class teacher and a staff member on the principal’s instructions. All three were, however, acquitted after the Children’s Court found no legally admissible evidence to sustain the charges against them.
The CBI first sought to close the case in 2017, but objections from the victim’s family led to the probe being reopened. In 2022, the CBI questioned a man from Murshidabad, West Bengal, who had lived in Goa at the time of the assault, but ruled out his involvement.
