Goa’s seems to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. This time it is Senior Journalist Rupesh Samant who is absconding for almost a fortnight after being booked in a string of cases for having allegedly sexually harassed women staff working with him.
The offences for which Rupesh Samant has been booked by the Women’s Police Station are very serious and non-bailable. If he is innocent he should appear before the police and prove so. By evading arrest he is only aggravating his miseries. The Supreme Court has time and again taken note of the increasing crimes against women in particular and laid down that such crimes are serious warranting stringent action against the offenders. Have today requested Goa’s Director General of Police T.N.Mohan to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a Superintendent of Police to probe the cases against Rupesh Samant. DGP T.N.Mohan has assured that everything possible will be done to nab the now absconding Rupesh Samant at the earliest possible. The Police are searching for Rupesh Samant all over and are unaware whether he has left the State or possibly gone overseas. It is very appalling and highly distressing that the Goa Police have not been able to make any headway in the cases against Rupesh Samant who is accused in a series of sexual harassment cases against women. The commitment of the Goa Police to the safety of women and Zero Tolerance to Crime against them cannot be a mere tall decorative promise only on paper but should reflect by the actions and deeds of which sadly has not happened in the Rupesh Samant episode, possibly because of him being politically well connected. One cannot stand a mere spectator to this gross, malafied and unjustified inaction of the Police to act against a serial offender against women. If the police continue to display sheer and willful impotency in investigating the case, it would be necessary to move the Court for appropriate orders to ensure that the law takes its own course and that the wheels of justice are not sabotaged and derailed to shield Rupesh Samant. The police are duty bound to promptly and professionally investigate every case. They cannot pick and choose which one to pursue and which investigation to stall or hush. The out of the box zeal and enthusiasm displayed by the Goa police in the infamous Tarun Tejpal case and more recently in the Louis Berger saga should reflect and be a benchmark in every investigation. The allegations against Rupesh Samant are much more grave and serious than that of Tarun Tejpal with a series of F.I.Rs registered against Rupesh Samant based on complaints filed by the distraught victims unlike the Tarun Tejpal case where the police swooped into action on a mere media report. The very casual manner in which the police are proceeding with these serious cases against Rupesh Samant would lead anyone to believe that there is political interference at the highest level which is disabling the police from acting in accordance with law. It is very difficult to believe that the Goa police are so incompetent as to be unable to trace and nab the accused Rupesh Samant for so long. It only reminds us how the police earlier this year allowed Nuvem MLA Mickky Pacheco to evade arrest for over two months. The Goa Government should also prove its bonafides on Zero Tolerance to Crimes against Women by appointing a Special Public Prosecutor in the Rupesh Samant case as was done in the Tarun Tejpal Case. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com