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In yet another bizarre twist to the infamous Ribandar Church molestation case Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has in a tactical move to oblige the request from Archbishop of Goa Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrao, directed the police not to file the chargesheet against Ribandar Parish Priest Fr. Newton Rodrigues accused in the molestation case and to keep the investigations in abeyance till the forthcoming Exposition is over. The Chief Minister has also reportedly been under intense pressure from two Catholic ministers of his cabinet to hush up the matter and save the beleaguered Priest. Strangely certain politicians with RSS links friendly to the Parish Priest have also been lobbying with the Chief Minister to rescue the Priest from facing the due process of law. The Police authorities may however be caught in a tight spot when the contempt of Court petition filed against Investigating officer of the case Inspector Mrs. Ezilda D' Souza comes up before the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High court. Crime Branch Police Inspector Ezilda D' Souza had in a statement before the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court on 16th September submitted that the investigation of the alleged Ribandar Church molestation case was in its last stage and that the charge sheet against Fr. Newton Rodrigues was being filed shortly. The molestation case has also been one of bones of contention in the current row between Goa's DGP Amod Kanth and the Chief Minister with the DGP taking a firm stand that law should take its own course and with refusing to show any preferential treatment to the accused priest. The Chief Minister's intervention has not come as a surprise and is seen as a politically strategic move by Mr. Manohar Parrikar to woo catholic voters from Ribandar who will now be part of his Panaji Assembly Constituency. It may be recalled that the Old Goa Police station had on 18th August 2004 registered an F.I.R against Fr. Newton Rodrigues based on a complaint from a 13 year old Ribandar girl that on the pretext of taking confession the Parish Priest Fr. Newton Rodrigues took her to a room in the church and molested her. The F.I.R against Ribandar Parish Priest Fr. Newton Rodrigues for offences under section 354 IPC (molestation) and section 8(2) of the Goa Children's Act, 2003 was registered at the Old Goa Police station and further investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch at Dona Paula. During the course of investigation the police recorded the statements of over 14 witnesses and the Executive Engineer PWD was also asked to draw a sketch of the scene of offence. A Women's rights NGO, Bailancho Exvott had also investigated the case and submitted its report along with a formal complaint against the Priest to the Director General of Police. The molestation case has virtually split the parishioners of Ribandar with some having tried to hush up the matter by feeling that the priest should be forgiven. However another group has been demanding that no one can be above the law and that the priest should face the Court of law as any other citizen as this molestation case is also just the tip of the iceberg. Grave concern has been expressed about the glaring moral and financial irregularities at the Ribandar Church with even a widow of a Velim seaman living in the Church premises with the priest. The seaman had allegedly committed suicide infront of the Usgaon Church in November 1999 when Fr. Newton was posted there because of the illicit relation his wife was having with Fr. Newton Rodrigues. Many feel that the Bishop's palace should have taken prompt and deterrent action on the issue by moving the Priest from Ribandar and by keeping him under the Archbishop's direct supervision. A large section of the Ribandar parishioners have however chosen to be neutral on the issue and are presumably waiting for the final outcome of the police investigation and the Court trial, as are other curious parishioners across Goa with this case having evoked considerable interest and has been a topic of conversation Goa wide.
