A Cry in the dark - this day, 50 years ago
Eugene Correia
It was on this day in 1962 that a girl of 12 years was killed by Indian
soldiers in the small seaside village of Bogmalo. The tragic incident
rocked Goa again, as it was shaken a few weeks earlier, on December 19,
by the Indian takeover of Goa. Luzy Adamantina Remiza Rodrigues, born
1949, was killed by a handgrenade thrown hastily through a window, after
first breaking its glass panes, by the fleeing soldiers at 1 am on
January 16. The grenade did not explode fully. As she was rushed to the
Margao Hospital, Luzy repeatedly asked for water. She was conscious till
her very last moment and asked in agony – and astonishment, “ What is
happening to me?” She passed away at 4: 20 am. Luzy was 11 days shy of
her thirteenth birthday.
Luzy was a pretty and smart girl, very much admired in the village. At
her young age, she was studying in the second year of Lyceum. The jawans
acted in anger against the victim's father, Manuel Santana Rodrigues,
following an argument at the latter’s provisions store (porsoro)over
packets of cigarettes around 10 pm on January 15. The jawans demanded
more packets and the owner said he didn’t have any. They returned that
night at Manuel Santana’s house, which is far from where his store
stands till today. As was his habit, he was reading his newspaper under
a lamp. His wife, Milagrina, on hearing some noises outside the house,
called out, “Konn thuem?” ( Who’s there?). In a flash, a hand-grenade
came through the window and landed between the girl’s legs, dismembering
them at the knees, while younger sister Jacinta (7), who slept on the
same bed, escaped with just her dress getting burnt. Other sister Alice
and youngest brother Lawrence (now deceased) slept in the same bedroom.
Luzy was fourth of seven siblings, three girls and four boys, in the
Rodrigues household. This first civilian crime by jawans in
post-Liberated Goa is considered by many pro and anti-Liberation Goans
as a black mark in the state’s Liberation history.
The Indian media did not report on it till February.
Luzy’s ill-fated death became a rallying cry for those who opposed the
Indian military action. There were black flag demonstrations in many
parts of Goa on the day of Luzy's funeral, held in the evening. The
jawans were later traced as a shoe belonging to one of them was left
behind when they ran up the hill to the Dabolim airport and disappeared.
Family members fail to recollect if the soldiers were ever
court-martialled. One Goan writer, who was pro-Portuguese, reported in
his book that the soldiers were let off without any punishment.
Jacinta recollects that her mother saying that she was not interested in
any compensation as no amount of money would bring her daughter back.
The military governor, Lieutenant General K P Candeth, called the murder
a "regrettable incident”.
http://www.epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=3100&boxid=14331406&uid=&dat=1/16/2012
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