PANJIM: A police officer, Dy SP Bousette de Silva has done his Job. A report by the DySP has been submitted. According to the sources, the report has no flaws and is submitted in whole truth. It is now upto the SDM to act based on the report of DySP Bousette Silva. Mr. Bousette has given the proper and impartial report according to the sources. Mr. Silva has also pointed out clearly the faults of the Police officers involved in the custodial death of Cipriano.
Goa now waits to see if a magistrate - himself a former police officer, goes by evidence, circumstantial and specific, the chain of events and the view of all witnesses and files a report which determines if Cipriano Fernandes was tortured and if he died as result of that torture.
All possible logic, in circumstances which are neutral, would point to a brutal assault on Cipriano Fernandes, which could have led to convulsions, fits and all assorted manifestations of diseases of all organs. If there is any other theory put forward, by SDM Sabaji Shetye conducting a magisterial inquiry, the people of Goa need to be suitably convinced that a man perfectly healthy on the night of his arrest, can have fits and convulsions and collapse at the Panjim police station and die less than twenty four hours later, without his body being violated by assault.
If Cipriano Fernandes was in the custody and detention of the Goa police, when his condition deteriorated to an extent when he sank on the floor of the investigation room with froth coming out of his mouth, the police have to be held accountable for circumstances that led to this condition.
Brutal common sense and logic are often victims of manipulations of the powerful. We have a right to know and be assured that that the people entrusted with carrying out the inquiry do not act like defense lawyers of the police.
Also, let us not lose focus of a key element in this investigation. The original complainant, Georgina Nunes, at a press conference, immediately after Cipriano’s death, explicitly said that Cipriano was beaten up. She added that he was dragged to the police station from the vehicle and then went on to add that she clearly heard the sound of beating after Cipriano was taken inside.
Even if we discount the last bit, we have a clear statement of someone who witnessed torture. We need to know if she has given the same statement to SDM Sabaji Shetye and if not, whether she was forced into altering her statement.
She has already complained of harassment and threat to change her statement privately though no complaint has been made. Importantly in her statement to the State Police Complaints Authority, she has reiterated the same version of events as she did to the press in even greater detail. In any investigation, we first go by what we have and then what we infer. In the first instance, we have evidence of torture. And custodial torture is a serious enough offence to warrant arrest and prosecution of the guilty.
Meanwhile if you have noticed, some initial attempts are being made to de-link the procedural lapses with the issue of custodial torture or death as if the two are completely unrelated. Let us ask ourselves. Would a departmental inquiry by a DySp level officer been ordered if Cipriano had not died and sections of the media not unleashed relentless pressure? Secondly, the procedural lapses were deliberate, not incidental which means that the police had a lot to hide. When you do not get a simple medical examination of the accused done or even inform the family members of his arrest and then the condition of his health, you are hiding facts. This is deceit of the highest order and leads one to believe that the procedural lapses were done to facilitate the wrong doing of torture which may have led to his death. SDM Sabaji Shetye, in all honesty, should link the lapses with torture.
Finally, it is clear that the police have an absolute contempt for even High Court observations on torture and arrest. This nonchalance is shocking. In the case of Antonio Sebastino Mervyn Degbertde V/S State of Goa and others (CRI Writ Petition No 19 of 2001, the petitioner was arrested, paraded with handcuffs and subjected to inhuman treatment by the police in a property dispute case. In the judgment of the Bombay High Court (Goa bench) dated July 1, 2008, the court ruled
“The police machinery is obliged to conduct investigation as far as possible, without touching the offender. The question of touching the offender would arise only while submitting a report under section 173 of the IPC, when the police are obliged to forward the accused along with the charge sheet… It would be important for the State government to bring this to the notice of all police officers so that arrests at the drop of a hat are avoided”.
The judgment concludes by saying “By and large the people of Goa are law abiding citizens having respect for authority. It would be necessary for the state to ensure that respect for authority is not eroded by any high handed actions on the part of its officers”
Clearly, either the state government has not brought this to the notice of all officers or the officers couldn’t care less.
SDM Sabaji Shetye has a job on his hands. And if he thinks that he can quietly submit his report without any ensuing scrutiny or public questioning, he can forget it. And if there is a charge that this is a trial by media, we proudly plead guilty to that charge. It’s a trial by the people of Goa and those facing it better be prepared. (HD)
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