A comment by Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, who called the five youngsters accused of rape as “naive” on Thursday, appeared to have temporarily taken the spotlight off the police investigation into the shocking crime, in which two young women tourists from Delhi were gangraped.
Parulekar, in comments to the media earlier on Thursday, had termed the five youngsters as ‘naive’ triggering a controversy. Superintendent of Police (North Goa) Umesh Gaonkar said that the investigation team probing the case, was looking into whether the accused knew the victims, whose taxi they ambushed, robbed and later raped after taking them to a secluded resort in Calangute, a popular beach destination in North Goa.
“We have already arrested the accused, but we are trying to establish a few things, including whether the accused knew the victims,” Gaonkar told The Pioneer.
Five people were arrested on Tuesday for posing as policemen and then abducting, beating and sexually assaulting two young women tourists. The five also robbed their taxi driver after forcibly taking his ATM card and PIN number.
The two victims told the police that they had been allegedly raped through Monday night and Tuesday before a police team rescued them. “They dragged us from the car to a hotel room and raped us,” one of the victims told reporters on Thursday, recounting the ordeal.
The police reached the spot after the driver of a taxi the women were riding in, complained to the authorities. Gaonkar also said that the police were also investigating a call made by one of the gang members, who had demanded ransom to the recipient.
“There are several aspects which need investigation,” Gaonkar said. Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, however, termed the incident as an aberration and not a reflection of the safety of women in Goa.
“…the boys are nadaan (naive) and they have small crimes registered against them and this will not happen in the future,” Parulekar said referring to the accused.
“I regret the incident which happened in Goa yesterday. The character of the boys involved in the rape of the women yesterday was not good. They were working in a hotel and whichever hotel they worked in, they were booked for small-time robbery,” Parulekar also said.