German rape case: Complaint against Minister's wife
Panaji, Oct 18: Fadela Fuchs, mother of the 14-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by Goa Education Minister Atanasio Monseratte's son Rohit, has complained to police that the mother of the accused had threatened her while asking her to withdraw her complaint.
Fadela's counsel Aires Rodrigues made this disclosure at a press conference at a city hospital Saturday, Oct 18. He produced a piece of paper on which Jennifer Monserrate had scribbled her name and mobile number and allegedly handed it over to Fadela, when she had visited the victim's home on October 3, a day after the German mum had filed the complaint. "We have filed a complaint under section 195 (a) of the Indian Penal Code," Rodrigues said.
Rodrigues
said
the
state
was
conspiring
with
the
Monserrates
to
protect
the
21-year-old
accused,
who
has
been
absconding
for
more
than
a
week.
"Jennifer
told
the
media
that
it
was
the
Advocate
General
who
had
advised
her,
that
the
police
had
erred
in
procedure
while
filing
the
complaint.
How
can
the
state
Advocate
General
advise
the
accused
in
this
case?"
Rodrigues
asked,
adding
that
it
was
the
duty
of
the
law
official
to
advise
the
police
and
not
the
family
of
the
accused.
"The government is acting in connivance with the accused. It is not safeguarding the interest of the minor victim," Rodrigues said.
He said he had informed Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat about the Advocate General's "transgression" and hoped some action would be initiated against him.
Rodrigues, a High Court lawyer and rights activist, was assaulted by a group of masked men on Monday night while having dinner with a colleague at a restaurant in Panaji. He lost two fingers in the attack.
Meanwhile, five people arrested in connection with the assault on Rodrigues have been remanded to seven days in police custody.
The latest arrests take the number of people nabbed for assaulting the lawyer to eight.
Rodrigues alleged the assailants were sent by Atanasio Monserrate the day before he was to accompany Fuchs to the police headquarters to pursue the complaint against Rohit.
Fuchs had complained to the police on October 2 that Rohit had raped her daughter and had sent her obscene SMSes.
OneIndia News