MARGAO
Accused Francis Pereira may have claimed his hand in the host of desecrations across the state since 2003. But, a "handwriting" on the back pages of the Holy Bible could help to throw light whether the desecration of the St Anthony's Church at Cabo de Rama was the handiwork of accused Francis Pereira.
While the Goa police have claimed that Francis has allegedly claimed responsibility behind the desecration of the Cabo de Rama Church in 2009, the handwriting on the back pages of the Holy Bible at St Anthony Church, Cabo de Rama may throw further insight into the claim.
For, the handwriting may help the police to establish a clear link between the desecrations and the accused and to prove a point or two to those casting doubts about the involvement of accused Francis in the desecration cases.
Quepem Sub-divisional Police officer, DySP Sammy Tavares told The Goan on Thursday that accused rancis has allegedly confessed his involvement in the desecration of the St Anthony Church at Cabo de Rama in 2009. "The accused has allegedly admitted that he had removed the tabernacle and took it with him and had kept other statues and idols near the altar," DySP Sammy said.
A resident of Cabo de Rama, Precopio Fernandes told The Goan on Thursday that the St Anthony Church was desecrated on August 3, with the miscreants writing a message on the back pages of the Holy Bible before taking away the tabernacle and desecrating the holy place. "The Holy Bible is still being used in the Church and can turn out a valuable piece of evidence against the accused. The Holy Bible was taken into possession by the Cuncolim police while conducting the panchanama at the time of desecration, and was returned after a formal letter was made by the Church," he said.
Given that the handwriting on the Holy Bible could help seal the fate of the accused Francis, the Cuncolim police headed by PI Shailesh Narvekar visited the Cabo de Rama Church on Thursday soon after accused Francis allegedly confessed his hand in the desecration of the St Anthony Church. "Yes, I visited the Cabo de Rama Church as part of the investigations, more so with the accused confessing his hand in the crime," PI Narvekar said.
He, however, declined to shed light on the nature of the "handwriting" on the Holy Bible, saying that the Cuncolim police would first take the accused in its custody before taking his specimen writing before dispatching the two writings for the opinion of handwriting experts. "The handwriting on the Holy Bible has been part of the panchanama of the case," he added.
