YEAR 2010: GSCW SETTLES ONLY 30 CASES OUT OF 222

PANJIM: The change in guard at Goa State Commission for Women does not seems to have made much difference for the body with hardly 30 cases out of 222 cases registered with them reaching their logical end for the year that went by.

The commission is hearing 181 cases including crucial inter-state sexual trade case involving a high profile beauty and massage parlour owner in the State. Commission headed by Ezilda Sapeco was supposed to play a major role in weeding out the inter-State racket but the inquiry seems to have lost the steam mid-way. It was only after Nagaland Women Commission’s letter to its Goa counterpart that the body initiated parallel inquiry. In October, many girls from Nagaland and Mizoram were rescued during a raid on Lotus Beauty Parlour at Porvorim.

GSCW is yet to furnish its report on the incident. Five persons including parlour owner Mahalaxmi Mishra were arrested. The investigation by police and Women’s Commission seems to have hit the rock-bottom.

On the women’s front although Nadia Torrado death case kept making headlines after alleged involvement of then tourism minister Mickky Pacheco, the commission didn’t investigate the same.

Crime Branch has not managed to file a chargesheet even six months after the case. But the use of Ratol by Nadia gave rise to another similar case. At Bicholim, a minor girl was fed with Ratol paste by her relatives after abducting her. The commission had intervened in the matter but it is yet to make the findings of the case public.

The commission has failed to make its mark although there was change in the chairperson. “There are so many cases in a day…we have to look into each case…special attention has to be given,” Sapeco stated. Sapeco said that the change in lifestyle has resulted in several domestic cases being piled up with the commission.

“Many young girls are ditched by their husbands. Most cases are of newly wedded couples wherein they get married but the NRI husbands dump their respective wives within few days of marriage. However there are cases wherein wives are not interested to return back to their husbands,” she said.

The commission initiates counselling initially as a part of reconciliation. But when things go really bad, the matter is sent to the court or resolved in a way that would keep the dignity of both the aggrieved parties.

“There are also cases wherein both parties patch up. Even in case of couples, those who hate each other end up giving birth to a child,” she quipped. Although the affairs of protective home at Merces remained a matter of concern, the commission has failed to give much needed attention to it. In the year 2011, it is to be seen whether the commission manages to pull up its sleeves or continues with its earlier track record.