Is Goa going the Sodom and Gomorrah way? Is Goa becoming a sex haven? Fears like these are not unfounded if one hears the sordid stories of the likes of 'Mira'. Mira is just 13 years and she is rarely at home. Exploited by crafty sex traders she is ‘forced’ not to be at home. By A Special Correspondent.

MIRA (name changed to protect identity) is a thirteen-year-old girl. She should be in school, savouring the joys of a carefree childhood. She should come home to loving parents. She should be the apple of their eyes. That’s how it would have been in an ideal world. But this isn’t an ideal world. And Mira does not go home to loving parents. In fact, she doesn’t go home for days together.

Mira and her mother were abandoned by her father when she was merely three years old. Her mother, unable to earn a sizable income in Goa, decided to go to the Gulf to seek employment, leaving young Mira in the hands of her paternal grandmother. As is common with young children whose parents are unable to care for them, Mira did not receive the love, warmth and attention she craved. Making her vulnerable to perverse men who prey on innocent girls like Mira. One such man allegedly being Fernando Fernandes who is popularly known as ‘Sex’ in Colva. A man who befriended Mira. A man who perhaps showed Mira the affection she needed. A man who arranged meetings and overnight stays for Mira. With other men. Yes, other men.

SHADY AFFAIR!: Mira stayed in one of these cottages during her absence.

This shocking story came to light when Mira’s grandmother lodged a missing persons’ complaint at the Margao Town Police Station on 19 th August 2004. This after Mira did not return home for three whole days. After attempts to find the girl proved futile, the PSI telephoned the grandmother on the 21 st of August. She informed Naik that the girl had indeed called and was supposed to return the next morning to collect a fresh set of clothes and money. Naik informed her that he would be sending two constables to fetch the girl since an inquiry had to be conducted. The grandmother brought Mira to the police station the following morning, before the constables could get to her house. She went on to plead with the PSI to hush up the matter since Mira had returned home safely.

PSI Naik questioned Mira on her whereabouts from the 16 th to the 19 th of August. After several hours of persistent questioning, Mira told the PSI that she had spent the period in question at a cottage at Colva Beach. Sensing that something was amiss, Naik called women’s activist Auda Viegas to assist in the inquiry. Auda persuaded Mira to point out the cottage. Mira took Naik and Auda to Vinson’s Cottages in Colva. Interrogation of Philomena Rebello, the lady in charge of the cottages, revealed that the room was booked by Fernando, a regular visitor. It was also revealed that, after booking the room, Fernando dropped off a man to the cottage. A man who spent the night at the cottage with Mira. Fernando was immediately apprehended and admitted to having assisted in providing the room to Madhu, the man who stayed with Mira.

Madhu has been booked under section 376 of the Indian penal code, while Fernando has been booked under section 109 for abetting the rape. Stringent Sections of 10-B, 12, 8, 10 & 12 of the Goa Children’s Act were also applied for the trio of Fernando alias SEX, Filomena (Filu) and Madhu who were then arrested and confined to police custody for a period of 14 days.

Sources in the Police Department reveal that this is not a one-off incident. That there is a possibility that PSI Naik has stumbled upon part of a large, organized sex network. Fernando Fernandes is said to be an extremely notorious character.

As per information, Fernando is locally known as “Sex” since his childhood for obvious reasons. When local dailies disclosed that one Fernando Fernandes was one of those involved in the rape, people were totally confused about the identity of Fernando since he is locally known to all as only “Sex”. Very few know him by his real name. Fernando is said to own three motor bikes which he hires to tourists.

Apart from that, he is said to be thriving on supplying girls to tourists and all those interested. According to eye witnesses, it is alleged that Fernando takes a token amount from a client with a promise to supply a girl. There have been numerous cases where Fernando is said to have taken money and not supplied the girl. After casually inquiring about the place and duration of stay, he absconds till the tourist departs from Goa. Since Fernando gives a fictitious name, the desperate tourist never finds him. It is learnt that Fernando was a regular supplier of girls from Baina and has allegedly even cheated the Baina gharwallis (brothel keepers) who have even come in search of him at Colva.

Police also do not rule out the possibility of Fernando’s involvement in the narcotics trade. Whether Fernando’s other misdeeds will be investigated, however, remains to be seen. It is alleged that Fernando enjoys political patronage and is regularly seen at a prominent Congressman’s office. It is likely that Madhu, the unsuspecting customer, will take the rap while Fernando’s and Philomena’s role in the sordid affair will get swept under the carpet.

But the most troubling question on everyone’s mind is – how many more Miras are there? How many more vulnerable girls have Fernando and his ilk lured into prostitution? It is widely feared that cases such as this are on the rise in Colva and Goa in general. Minor girls are victims of paedophilia which are finally reported as rape. Only foreigners are accused of paedophilia when Indians are equally or more responsible. This all appears to be an organized cash rich racket with rewards for those from top to the bottom.

Pimps vary from politicians to the locals who are first said to be customers and, after realising the economic potential of this revolting trade, then proceed to make a thriving business out of it. It’s also said to be a case of providing variety for better rewards. So “the more the demand, the better the supply gets”. There is no sense of guilt and the racket is carried out with the most inhumane ruthlessness.

It is also alleged that an organized sex racket of supplying college girls is thriving in Goa. In a quest to keep up with their rich counterparts, college girls from middle and poorer class families are said to find the sex trade to be a swift solution to earn a fast buck. And with people like Fernando waiting for an opportunity to exploit situations such as these, the going is bound to get easy thereafter.

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