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Goa hands over Russian woman rape case to Crime Branch

PANAJI: The Goa Crime Branch on Saturday evening charged John Fernandes of Colva in south Goa with the rape of a 25-year-old Russian woman.

The Goa police have asked the Dean of the Goa Medical College to constitute a board for a full-fledged medical examination of the victim.

Goa Police Public Relations Officer and Superintendent of Police Atmaram Deshpande told The Hindu that in response to media reports that the victim has written to the Russian consulate complaining that the police at Colva coerced her to tone down her complaint, the case was handed over to the Crime Branch. The victim was asked to file a fresh complaint in which she alleged rape.

In her letter to the consulate, the woman who works as a Russian representative in a South Goa resort, wrote: “I was harassed for almost three-and-a-half hours at the Colva police station when I went there to lodge a complaint. After I gave my complaint I was told by the police that the case is not of ‘attempt to rape’ or ‘rape’ but it is molestation…”The woman, who arrived in Goa on a business visa in August 2009, further alleged that the police asked her to change her complaint to ‘abuse.’

According to the complaint, the incident occurred on December 1 mid-night when she and another Russian girl were given a lift by the accused in his car. He joined the two for dinner at a shack in Colva beach. The complainant, who met consulate officials, also alleged that her drink was spiked by the accused and as a result she felt uneasy.

The accused then allegedly attempted to rape her in his car after dropping the other girl The foreigner who resisted his advances suffered bruises on her thighs and knees, the earlier medical report stated.

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