Goa: Schoolgirl's rapist eludes investigators

Even a month after a seven-year-old girl was raped in the premises of a Goa school, a special investigation team of police has failed to arrest the culprit.

The minor was sexually assaulted in the school toilet of the school, run by Mormugao Port Trust, allegedly by a middle-aged man who is yet to be identified, evoking strong reaction from people.

Even as police widened the dragnet to net the accused person, they arrested school headmistress Sharlet Furtado for negligence and booked staff of the school for destroying the crucial evidence by allegedly washing the girl and cleaning up the bathroom where the crime took place.

However, none of them has been arrested yet.

The victim's father has already moved Goa Children's Court seeking directions to police to arrest the staff and has also threatened to go on the hunger strike outside the school, along with other family members, if the guilty are not apprehended.

However, police appear to be groping in the darkness, as according to a senior police officer, the initial leads are leading the investigations nowhere.

"It was a blind case because evidence was destroyed. Also a lot of time was wasted as there was a law and order situation in the town after the rape incident," he said.

Deputy Inspector General of police O P Mishra, supervising the investigations, was not available for comments.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar recently expressed hopes that the accused would be arrested by first week of February.