A growing number of people have begun suggesting the possible involvement of more than one person in the rape and murder of British-Irish woman Danielle McLaughlin at Dumane-Canacona and have requested police not to dismiss this claim.
CANACONA
The NGO represented by Tara Kerkar, Canacona Municipal Council (CMC) Chairperson Prathana Naik Gaunkar and Goenkar President Jack Fernandes have supported earlier suggestions of lawyer Vikram Verma that more persons may have been linked to the murder of Danielle McLaughlin.
During one of her visits to Canacona Police Station, Tara Kerkar informed media persons that at least four persons could have been be involved in the crime.
“Being a woman, I know how a woman can react to a sexual assault and it’s still a mystery as to how one man could have overpowered McLaughlin. The manner in which the body was discovered is also an indicative that more than one person was involved in the crime. There must be a minimum of four involved in this case,” she said.
Addressing the media to announce the proposed half-day bandh at Canacona to condemn the murder, CMC Chairperson Naik Gaunkar had alleged that arresting only one person would not solve the rape and murder case.
“The entire gang of the accused are loose in the society and people suspect the gang members, if not directly, are indirectly involved in the crime. Police should not discard this theory, as many people knew that the accused, Viket Bhagat, was not operating alone, but had several accomplices.”
Ther have also been speculations that the victim may have been murdered at a place other than where the body was found.
“The crime scene where the body was reportedly found does not seem to display much tussle, before she was raped and murdered. This suggests the possibility that the victim could have been overpowered by more than one person at another site,” said NGO Goenkar President Jack Fernandes.
“We don’t doubt investigations by the police, but the modus operandi of the accused is well-known and he would not have operated single-handedly to overpower the 28-year-old victim, even if she is believed to have been intoxicated at the time of her murder,” he added.
Lawyer Vikram Varma had earlier suspected the possibility of more people involved in the rape and murder of McLaughlin.
Speaking to the media, Varma had claimed that McLaughlin was 5.8 feet in height, fairly strong and was taller than the accused, indicating the possibility that she could have been overpowered by more than one person.
