the goan I network
CANACONA
In a shocking incident which left people stunned and outraged across Canacona taluka, a 42-year-old British woman was allegedly raped and robbed in a field along the Palolem junction road in the wee hours of Thursday.
The accused, Ramchandra Chandralappa (30) from Thanjavur-Tamil Nadu had been arrested by Pernem police along with his accomplice in Margao early Thursday morning, in connection with two separate crimes in Pernem.
When the Pernem police team stumbled upon the bag containing the belongings of the British woman who was allegedly raped at Palolem, they alerted police officials and the Canacona police regarding Ramchandra’s connection to the rape case in Canacona.
According to Canacona police, the British tourist was staying at Palolem and had gone to drop a friend at the Canacona railway station. On her way back to Palolem, the woman preferred to walk back to her room, which is about 2 kms from the railway station.
CCTV footage near Char-Rasta captured her crossing the area at about 4.10 am. Within a minute, the CCTV footage captured a man apparently appearing from a field below and walking in haste. This man was also reportedly seen turning his face to avoid the lights of an oncoming vehicle proceeding towards Char-Rasta.
The alleged rape is reported to have taken place at about 4.15 am in the fields near the Palolem junction, which is about 200 mtrs away from the CCTV footage.
The man is reported to have caught the woman and tried to snatch her bags. When the woman resisted the robbery, the man lifted the woman and took her into the fields about 20-25 metres away and allegedly raped her.
The accused then robbed her cash of Rs 20,000, her passport, a debit card and other belongings, all worth a combined Rs 25,000.
As the man fled with the booty, the distraught woman began screaming for help and then ran to a nearby house, where one of her friends was residing in a guest room.
The friend then alerted the landlord and one resident then notified the police about the incident.
Canacona police was alerted about the incident at about 4.45 am and wasting no time, a police beat team on night patrol in the nearby Patnem-Colomb area rushed to the spot and obtained the description of the accused.
Within a short while,
a massive manhunt began in search of the accused.
By dawn, senior police officials including South Goa SP Arvind Gawas, DySP Uttam Raut Dessai, DySP (Crime) Sammy Tavares, PI Ravi Desai, PI Sagar Ekoskar visited the crime scene to assist the Canacona police team led by Canacona PI Rajendra Prabhudesai, as investigations were underway.
A sniffer dog was pressed into service and forensic experts picked up prints and other materials from the crime spot.
Police then collected CCTV footage from nearby locations and stumbled upon CCTV footage capturing the woman walking and a man apparently following her.
Sources said the woman had some injuries on her body. The police then sent the woman for a medical check up and SP Gawas said the results of the medical report were awaited.
The Canacona police were then in luck after they were informed that the accused, Ramchandra, had been picked up by the Pernem police in Margao in connection with two crimes in Morjim and later took custody of the accused on Thursday night.
Canacona police later booked the accused under Sections 376 (rape), 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of IPC and investigations were in progress.
CRIME PATROL
The British tourist who was staying at Palolem had gone to drop a friend at the Canacona railway station
On her way back to Palolem, the woman preferred to walk back to her room, which is about 2 kms from the railway station
CCTV footage near Char-Rasta captured her crossing the area at about 4.10 am
Within a minute, the CCTV footage captured a man apparently appearing from a field below and walking in haste
This man was also reportedly seen turning his face to avoid the lights of an oncoming vehicle proceeding towards Char-Rasta
The alleged rape is reported to have taken place at about 4.15 am in the fields near the Palolem junction, which is about 200 mtrs away from the CCTV footage
