ROBBERS MURDER WIFE, SERIOUSLY INJURE HUSBAND IN AN ASSAULT WHILST ATTEMPTING ROBBERY

VASCO: An elderly couple -- Mr Maximiano Paes (75) and Ms Ivone Filomena Paes (70) -- were gruesomely assaulted by suspected robbers leaving the wife dead and the husband seriously injured at Alto Dabolim.  The police have rounded up 15 labourers working at a nearby construction site in connection with the case.

The deputy superintendent of police, Vasco, Mr Mahesh Gaonkar said the elderly couple might have been assaulted in the wee hours of Thursday.  Neighbours and the Vasco police said the couple had been living alone in their bungalow ‘My Gem’, which is located near Gate Gourmet Hotel at Alto-Dabolim.

The incident came to light at around 1 p.m. on Thursday when couple’s maid, V Velliyamma, who has been working for the couple for the last 10 years, came for the work in the bungalow for the second time during the day. The maid had come to the bungalow earlier at 10 a.m. but when she called out for the couple nobody responded. She found a plastic bag containing milk packets and newspapers hanging to the entrance gate of the bungalow.

During her second visit, she again called out for the couple, but there was no response from the couple this time as well.

Sensing trouble, she raised an alarm and gathered neighbours, who also failed to reach out to the couple by shouts and phone calls. They found that the main door of the bungalow was not latched from inside and when they pushed it open they were aghast to see Ms Ivone Paes lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Both her hands were found in a twisted position.

The Vasco and Verna police station were informed of the incident. The policemen rushed to the bungalow and found the dead body of Ms Ivone Paes.

The police rescued Mr Maximiano Paes, who was unconscious and had been confined naked in a bathroom. He had been assaulted and had injuries on his head and face. The police rushed him to the SMRC Hospital at Chicalim. The police suspected that Mr Maximiano Paes might have been assaulted with some heavy object.

The elderly couple has three children, including a married daughter Ms Cassia Paes, who resides in Panjim. Their two sons are working outside the state. Mr George Paes is working in Bangalore and Mr Erwin Paes is working in Canada.

Couple’s daughter said that except a television set there were no valuables and money in the bungalow. It is understood that the culprits took advantage of loneliness of the elderly couple and broke into the bungalow through a window to rob them. Since they found nothing in cupboards and showcases, they ransacked the bungalow and later assaulted the couple.

Ms Cassia Paes said that she had been in touch with her parents on phone. On Thursday her brother Mr George Paes called up their parents from Bangalore at around at 10 a.m., but he could not get through them. So he intimated her and asked her to enquire about their parents through neighbours.  “I have intimated my brothers who are living in Bangalore and Canada about the incident and they are likely to arrive in Goa on Friday or Saturday,” she stated.

Mr Gaonkar said the motive behind the murder could be burglary. The assailants might have attacked the couple as they found no valuables in the bungalow.

He informed that the body has been sent for the postmortem to the Hospicio Hospital, Margao. The Verna police called for a dog squad and fingerprint expert team from Panjim to gain a breakthrough in the case.  The police would continue to round up the labourers who work at various sites in the vicinity of the bungalow, informed Mr Gaonkar.

An offence under sections 302 (murder) and section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code have been registered against unknown culprits.

The superintendent of police, South Goa, Mr Allen D’Sa, Verna PI, Mr Rajan Nigalye, Vasco PI, Mr Braz Menezes and Marmugao PI, Mr Rahul Parab were camping at the bungalow. The Verna police are investigating the case.