the goan I network
CANACONA
Canacona police arrested a youth from Khola on charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl on different occasions in the last 2-3 months, while a female relative of the victim was booked for abatement of the crime and another youth was also booked for kidnapping the victim.
According to Canacona police, the relative had filed a missing complaint stating that the 15-year-old girl had been kidnapped by a youth from Palolem on Thursday as the minor girl had failed to return home. Police sources said the girl was staying with the female relative, as her mother had left home and her father is working elsewhere in the State.
While the police was in the process of beginning a search for the girl, she walked into the police station to report she is safe and had stayed for the night with her friend at Palolem on Thursday night.
Suspecting something fishy in her statements, police sought the services of a women’s NGO. When the girl was questioned, she spilled the beans and said another person, Samir Velip (21) of Khola, had developed relations with her since the last 5-6 months.
Stating that the youth had entered into a physical relationship with her on different occasions since the last 2-3 months, the victim claimed that her relative, who had filed a missing complaint, was fully aware of the sexual relationship with the boy.
Canacona police then booked Samir Velip on charges of rape, while the relative was booked for abatement to rape under Section 376 IPC, Sections 4, 17 of POCSO Act and Section 8 of Goa Children Act.
Velip was later arrested and produced before the JMFC Court at Margao (as the JMFC judge at Canacona is on leave), who remanded the accused to three days in police custody.
Another youth from Palolem was also booked for kidnapping the minor girl under Section 363 IPC and Section 8 of Goa Children’s Act.
The victim was taken to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and is lodged at the Apna Ghar in Merces.
