Goa rape accused a relative of school head: Lawyer

The Vasco school girl rape case took a new turn on Wednesday with the lawyer of the victim alleging before a court that a relative of the headmistress was involved in the crime.

Advocate Aires Rodrigues alleged in the court that police were trying to hush up the case to protect the accused, who is related to the headmistress and was earlier placed under arrest for negligence.

The lawyer said the victim had identified the accused from the photograph, which was shown to her. The father of the victim has moved the Goa children's court demanding arrest of the school staff who had allegedly tried to destroy the evidence by cleaning the girl, after she was raped.

Rodrigues submitted to the court a CD containing a conversation recorded with the victim narrating the sequence of events on the day she was raped. The laywer demanded that the said accused, along with two of his accomplices, be interrogated and paraded before the victim for identification.

He also urged the court that school headmistress Charlotte Furtado, class teacher Deesha Kavathankar and head clerk Brazina Godinho should be booked under section 16 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Abuse Act 2012 for abetting the crime and not ensuring a safe environment for the victim.

He said they should also be booked under section 201 of CrPC for destroying crucial evidence after the young girl was raped. Judge Anuja Prabhudesai reserved her verdict till the next hearing on March 4.

Public prosecutor Sarojini Sardinha submitted to the court that everything possible was being done to crack the case and that the police would comply with any orders given by the court. She submitted to the court that the child was given a bath after the rape to avoid any infections.