Goa child sexual assault case Accused knew victim's father say police

    Panaji, Nov 12 (PTI) An investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl in Mapusa town of North Goa district has shown that the man arrested in the case was an acquaintance of her father, police said.

    The accused, identified as Pundalik Gudge (28), a native of Karnataka's Dharwad district, was apprehended in Panaji on Wednesday morning following the investigation involving CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts and forensic evidence, Superintendent of Police (North) Rahul Gupta said at a press conference in Mapusa on Wednesday evening.

    Police had initially said the girl was three years old, but the investigation established that she is four.

    The child was allegedly sexually assaulted on November 8.

    Gupta said police had received information that night that she had been found in a distressed condition near an abandoned building close to Lohia Ground in Mapusa.

    Investigators initially faced a major challenge as they had no information about the identity of either the victim's family or the accused, he said.

    "They subsequently traced the girl's father and reconstructed the sequence of events using CCTV footage from the surrounding areas," he said.

    According to the police investigation, the accused was known to the girl's father, a migrant labourer who used to sleep on the footpath at night. Both were present in the Mapusa market area on the day of the incident, along with other acquaintances, Gupta said.

    The police also questioned some people who knew the suspect.

    Acquaintances identified the accused based on the CCTV footage, but the main challenge was that he did not carry a mobile phone and had no digital footprint, making it difficult for investigators to trace his movements, Gupta said.

    During the investigation, it came to light that the accused hailed from Dharwad in Karnataka.

    Police teams were deployed in Mapusa, Panaji, Margao and Vasco (South Goa) to track him down. He was eventually spotted and apprehended in Panaji on Wednesday morning, Gupta said.

    The police have also recovered a bag, a bedsheet and the victim's dress from the crime scene. The accused allegedly identified the bag as belonging to him during interrogation and confessed to the crime, the SP said.

    The child was initially admitted to Mapusa District Hospital in a critical condition before being shifted to Goa Medical College and Hospital near Panaji. She is now stable, he said.

    Further investigation is underway, police said, adding that they would focus on collecting scientific evidence and filing the chargesheet at the earliest to ensure a speedy trial.

    An FIR has been registered against the accused under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Goa Children's Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police said.

    Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said such perpetrators have no right to remain in society and will "go behind bars permanently".

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)