A Goa lawmaker who spent 12 days in police custody for allegedly ‘purchasing’ and raping a minor girl at his farm house was on Wednesday finally released on conditional bail by a local trial court.
President of the Goa Children’s Court PV Kamat in his order also directed Monserrate to submit a personal surety of
Rs1 lakh, surrender his passport to the Court and report to the Goa Police Crime Branch everyday for the next seven days.
The Court also granted conditional bail to the victim’s mother and an alleged pimp Rosy Ferros, both of whom according to the police, had conspired to sell the minor girl to Monserrate in March this year, before he raped her on several occasions, as alleged by the victim in her First Information Report (FIR) filed at the Crime Branch.
Speaking to reporters outside the Courtroom Monserrate, who became the first Goan legislator to be booked for child-rape, said that he was “innocent” and a victim of a political conspiracy.
“I know who is behind this conspiracy. I will expose the person at the right time. Someone I know has tried to frame me,” Monserrate said.
According to the FIR filed against him, Monserrate has been accused of paying Rs50 lakh to allegedly ‘purchase’ the minor girl from her mother with the help of a pimp Rosy Ferros, both of whom also got conditional bail today.
The legislator has claimed that on the days when he is alleged to have raped the minor girl was when he was busy campaigning for the Panaji civic elections, where his panel won the highest number of seats.
When asked if the police would appeal against the lower court’s granting of bail before the District and Sessions Court, a senior police official said that “the matter was being discussed and a final decision had not been taken yet”.
Monserrate was elected to the St Cruz legislative constituency seat on a Congress ticket, but was eventually sacked from the political outfit for alleged anti-party activities. The lawmaker is a major move and shaker in the State’s political arena and in the past has served as a Cabinet Minister in coalition Government’s headed by both the Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party.