Goemkarponn desk
VASCO: The State government citing last week handed over the case of mysterious suicide deaths at Sancoale to Crime Branch in Goa.
It has now come to the fore that the suicide of the three family members was due to mental and physical torture by the police.
Sources have told Goemkarponn that the deaths seemed suspicious.
The three deceased, namely Hulgappa Ambigera (35) his wife Devamma (28) and his brother Gangappa (29) all committed suicide, shortly after they came back home from the Verna police station, where they had been summoned in connection with a theft case iled against Devamma. The complaint was filed against Devamma by a person at whose house she worked as a maid.
Sources also said that the three were called at the police station and tortured by the cops for statement in theft case.
“Devamma was tortured badly and she has told this to her native people in Bagalkot,” sources revealed.
“We have started investigating the case. All persons linked to it, including police officials, will be summoned for questioning,” a senior Crime Branch official said on Saturday. The local sub-divisional magistrate has already started a probe into the deaths.
police however claim that a suicide note left behind by the deceased states that they owe money to extended family members in Bagalkot, who were, in turn, harassing them. Read more at: Verna police, led by PI Sherif Jacques has said that thesuicide note left behind State that they owe money to extended family members in Bagalkot and they were being harassed.
However, Goa Council for Social Justice and Peace and the National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations have pointed out that the police inquiry so far has missed on some key issues which could provide more accurate and objective truths.
They have further noted that the failure to provide credible answers to public concerns has now prompted the police to shift the inquiry into the hands of the Crime Branch.
“It is hoped that the Crime Branch inquiry will not be driven by the same anti-poor, anti- migrant worker narrative that tends to cloud effective and scientific investigations. Alternately, the inquiry should be conducted by an independent commission of inquiry for the sake of justice and fairness. Such an approach assumes added relevance considering that issues of bias and police harassment have been raised,” pointed out Ranjan Solomon and Fr. Savio Fernandes of NCHRO & CSJP.
They said that there are already serious complaints by the family of harassment by the police of the deceased.
“It is being asked whether this can be attributed to the fact that the victims and their families come from conditions of disadvantaged caste, class, region, (the victims were all migrants), and hence already vulnerable and disadvantaged. It is not uncommon for the police to adopt dual standards in dealing with vulnerable communities when power lies on the side of the complainant,” they said.
CSJP said the inquiry into the unnatural deaths must at least now reveal if there is influence being peddled by the complainant that is slowing the inquiry.
“Either that angle has either not been investigated adequately, or not at all. Whatever be the case, the matter cannot be kept concealed. Not only has the inquiry been dragged, it lacks transparency and is discriminatory to the deceased and their families,” they said.
The groups have stated that they are forced to ask why the post mortem of the bodies was conducted at the Goa Medical College at Bambolim in North Goa when the entire incident happened in the South District, and consequently why the bodies were not taken to the South Goa District Hospital for examination; and further, as to why the post mortem was conducted by postgraduate students and a junior medical officer and not by any senior post graduate medical officer.
They have stated that this smacks of the discriminatory attitude with which the police as well as the medical authorities have handled a serious matter involving three unnatural deaths. This question needs to be examined separately under the authorities of the GMC and Health Department and credible answers must be forthcoming, the groups have remarked
The groups have also pointed out that the police have disseminated selective and biased information to the media which could prejudice public perceptions that defame the deceased victims from a sheer class bias. The note alleged to be written by the deceased is yet to be proven as authentic. The information we have suggests that none of the deceased victims were literate. What real evidence does the police have that the victims authored the note? Did they compare any two handwritings of the said victims that would justify their findings?
Just like we have information about the victims and their families based on investigations, the complainant must also be summoned and queried. It is important for the police to make known the precise figure that the allegedly stolen adds up to? The police should also make public the copy of the FIR/Complaint letter just as they have voluntarily shared information about the so-called note found in the room of the deceased. We demand equitable standards in the investigation of the victims and their families and that of the complainant.
“If required other agencies such as the Income Tax department should be involved in investigation. It is the fundamental right of every citizen to get justice, without being discriminated based on region, caste, class and the influence and power of the complainant,” the groups said.