PANJIM: With seven of the 18 murder cases slapped against alleged serial killer Mahanand Naik by the police ending in acquittal, the government has decided to refer the matter to the director of prosecution (DoP).
"We are making every effort to pin down Mahanand. It is not a nice feeling when an accused gets acquitted in a case. We would also be taking the opinion of the DoP in the matter to ensure that more cases against him don't end up in acquittal," said chief secretary Sanjay Srivastava.
Recently, the North Goa district and sessions court acquitted Naik in two more murder cases after giving him the 'benefit of doubt'. He has been acquitted of murdering Darshana Naik in 1994 and Sunita Gaonkar in 2003.
The police had charged him of murdering 21-year-old Darshana on September 27, 1994, after taking her along with him to visit a patient at Goa Medical College, Bambolim. Police claimed that Naik took Darshana to an isolated spot and strangulated her with her dupatta and then hung her from a cashew tree.
Incidentally, this case was supposedly the first murder by Naik, who has been accused of killing 18 women between 1994 and 2009. However, Mahanand has been sentenced to undergo seven years in jail after he was found guilty of raping his wife's friend. (TNN)
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