MARGAO
As politicians of all hues brace up for the battle for Velim in 2022, due within six months, one question that may come back to haunt the villagers of Velim and Ambelim is simple -- when will curtains come down on the trial in the sensational decade-old Velim church case that had hit the headlines on the eve of the 2012 Assembly elections.
Records indicate that the trial in the case is unlikely to end in the near future, with court sources saying the Covid-19 pandemic has only brought the trial to a halt, with the courts taking up only urgent matters, leaving trials on hold for over a year now.
In this case, a mob had allegedly assaulted and left three CID personnel injured on February 25, 2012. The incident had occurred when the sleuths had gone to the Velim church to gather information whether the parishioners will come out to vote against the backdrop of the raid conducted by IT officials and flying squad officials in the church earlier that month.
The fallout of the incident had a bearing on the Congress electoral fortunes in Velim as well in the neighbouring constituencies. Congress leaders had then attributed the incident as one of the factors that sent party heavyweights, including then Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues, packing home, that saw Independent Benjamin D’Silva elected to the Assembly from Velim in 2012.
A decade later, arch political rivals, sitting Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues and Benjamin D’Silva, the main players in the 2012 elections, are bracing up to lock horns yet again. And, so is Velim Sarpanch Savio D’Silva, who was named as an accused in the case along with then Parish Priest Fr Romano Gonsalves, then Assolna Parish Priest and incumbent Episcopal Vicar, South Goa, Fr Lucio Dias and other villagers.
Inquiries by The Goan have revealed that curtains on the trial in this sensational case are unlikely to come down at least in the immediate future. If no hearing of the case had taken place during the Covid-19 pandemic, from March last year till date, the case is now posted for hearing only in September 2021.
Incidentally, a glance at the records showed that while the alleged incident had taken place on February 25, 2012, the Cuncolim police had filed the charge sheet three years later in July 2015 against the 22 accused persons.
All the persons named in the charge sheet were booked under section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder) and for other offenses. The attempt to murder charge and section 333 of the IPC (causing grievous injuries to policemen), were ordered to be dropped by Judicial Magistrate First Class, Judge Ram Prabhudesai.
Though the prosecution moved the Sessions Court against the JMFC’s order, the government intervened to withdraw the appeal petition, implying that Section 307 and 333 of the IPC were dropped against the 22 accused.
