Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI:An important development is that the Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) has given careful consideration to a complaint made by senior citizen and permanent resident of Avedem, Quepem, Shri Ganesh Raghoba Gauns Dessai, who claims serious police misconduct, abuse of power, and violation of fundamental human rights. On February 25, 2025, Quepem Police, allegedly acting under the influence of a prominent retired police officer, an active politician, and a local businessman, brutally and illegally blocked the family from performing the last funeral rites of Mr. Dessai’s wife, Late Sumitra Ganesh Gauns Dessai, on their own ancestral property, where such rites have been performed peacefully for generations.
According to the petitioner, highly armed police officers were stationed near the petitioner’s ancestral home in Avedem on February 25, 2025. He claimed that there was no official direction or court order to support this kind of police operation. “The Petitioner and his distraught family were denied access to their own property, humiliated, and subjected to violent restraints.” “This inhumane act violated human dignity, religious freedom, and fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution,” he stated. The complaint highlights how the police went beyond their lawful bounds by arbitrating a civil case without jurisdiction and conspiring with private parties to settle personal grudges while claiming official authority.
The Goa Human Rights Commission has sent a notice to the South Goan Superintendent of Police, acknowledging the importance and gravity of the occurrence, instructing him to come before the Commission on February 4, 2025, and give a thorough justification of the police action. “This action by the Human Rights Commission brings hope not just to my family but to every citizen who believes in justice, dignity, and constitutional rights,” petitioner Ganesh Raghoba Gauns Dessai told GNH. No family should have to go through what we did. We appreciate the Commission’s intervention.
