HEART 2 HEART BY ETHEL DA COSTA
Shame on you, Ryan
I�ve heard of disgruntled sons-in-law. I�ve heard of acid throwing mothers-in-law and their families who gang up to make life miserable for the unsuspecting daughter-in-law. Physical or mental abuse is not new to Goa or Goan women. I know enough women who fall into the clutches of these mind-twisting, smooth operators, whose sole motive is to get behind the cash, after making sure the woman of their ardor has walked into their trap. I know of a poor parent from Bastora knocking on the doors of justice, the Women�s Police Station in Goa, and the human rights organization in Delhi -- to no avail, must I add -- after his young daughter mysteriously died few months after her marriage to a Delhi based businessman. Informed of her demise only after the funeral rites were hastily conducted by the in-laws � thereby destroying any evidence that would warrant an investigation � the parents mourn the loss of a daughter believed to have been harassed for not bringing enough dowry to buy out the greed of the son-in-law.
Ryan�s diabolic plot to do away with a man who was trying to protect his daughter from the clutches of a psychotic, money hungry cad, is shameful, pathetic and downright deplorable. The meticulous planning and execution of the act itself could put a Bollywood crime flick to shame, given the masala of the entire setting. Greed and revenge can run your blood cold, right Ryan?
While my sympathies lie with the grieving family of the good doctor, Goa (and we must be alarmed if we are thinking people) this is truly the end of your innocence. Those rosy days of trust and faith are now over. Certified and sealed (I�m throwing the key into the ocean). Poisoned by the likes of Ryan and company (and the others hiding in the woodwork with their dirty deeds) only aiding in express-hurtling Goa as a new destination for organized crime and contract killing, hence further strengthening the booming drug cartel and soon, whole scale prostitution, high class call-girl pimping (look at the Russians crawling all over the place), sex fiends, child and porn rackets. Not that Goa is virgin to these vices. But never before so-in-your-face. Never this cold-blooded. I shudder.
Where do we begin to clean up our act? To reign in the terror before it claims more innocent people and more victims. How do we work to keep body, soul and hearth together from these crazies? Fiends who simply don�t understand when enough is enough, or the lack of systems to put in the checks and balances when push becomes shove.
Yes, we have rapped the Goa Police before for dozing on their jobs, for their utter lack of efficiency, co-ordination and lack of compassion to address the grief and grievance of a victim. But this time, a pat on the back indeed to Muktesh Chander�s team for not goofing up on this one (credit where credit is due, always) and apprehending the culprit fast. Though I wonder (must play devil�s advocate often) if this case received the attention and investigation it deserved only because of the victim�s political background (aware as we are of the political string pulling). What of the others who do not afford the luxury of 'knowing somebody.� And the several cases that continue to pile on account of 'lack of evidence.�
The Goa Police would do well by stepping up on their policing soirees and vigilance exercises to stop crime in its tracks, by learning to acknowledge distress calls or spotting a probable offender. Ryan had made his dishonourable intentions very clear before the fateful incident. If due cognizance had been taken of Ryan�s violent stand against the Verenkar family, today the good doctor would have been alive and sufficiently protected by the police to nod his head in agreement. Why are we plagued with this habit of locking the stable after the horse has bolted away?
Time to wake up Goa. Time to also work doubly hard to ensure Goa is not going the Mumbai way (despite the State�s fascination with Bollywood starlets and their cronies). What say Big P?
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