MLA's PLIGHTPANAJI: Congress MLA, Atanasio Babush Monserrate said he has moved an application seeking to withdraw his plea to fast track the trial in the alleged rape case against him fearing that it would itself be the cause of delay.
>> Accused of raping a girl who alleged that her own mother had sold her for Rs 50,000
>> Facing charges of rape besides other sections of the IPC and of POSCO Act
Monserrate said he wants the trial to take place at the earliest but legal opinion suggests his plea before the court could itself put legal hurdles to the commencement and speedy progress of trial.
"I have moved an application for permission to withdraw my plea. A similar intervention in the police station case came up after five years," Monserrate told The Goan when contacted.
He said he wants the process of trial to progress unhindered so he can prove his innocence in the politically motivated case at the earliest.
Monserrate is facing charges of rape besides other sections of the IPC and of POSCO Act since the survivor was a minor when the offence allegedly occurred in May 2016.
The Panaji MLA was accused of raping the girl who had also alleged that her own mother had sold her for Rs 50,000.
Monserrate on the other hand has denied the charges and claimed that it was a politically motivated case. He said the complainant was employed in one of his business concerns and was dismissed after she was accused of misappropriation.
Charges were framed by a Panaji court in mid-June in the case in which Monserrate had briefly been arrested in 2016 before obtaining bail.
