Kasaragod: Parents receive skull of teenage daughter killed 18 years ago
Kasaragod (Kerala), Nov 12: Hands of the couple that received a tiny cardboard box from a Kasargod court trembled with emotions and their eyes welled up. Because the box contained portions of the skull of their beloved daughter murdered 18 years ago in Goa, when she was just 13.
According to police, 13-year-old Sofia was killed in December 2006 in Goa while she was serving as a maid in the house of K C Hamsa, a contractor from Kasargod. She allegedly suffered severe burns in the kitchen and Hamsa, out of fear of punishment, killed the girl and chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in an under-construction dam site in Goa, they said. The mortal remains were recovered in 2008. Though the accused was arrested later and a local court sentenced him to death in 2015, the Kerala High Court commuted his punishment into life imprisonment in 2019.
Despite court punishing the accused, parents couldn't find peace as they thought their daughter deserved a formal, respectful send off, at least. The family of the girl, hailing from Coorg in neighbouring Karnataka wanted the court to handover the mortal remains of their daughter, so that they could perform last rites according to their religious customs.
The Principal Sessions Court here accepted their request and handed them over the skull of the girl on Monday. Besides her mother Ayesha and father Moithu, people from Aiyangeri in Coorg, a few close relatives of the deceased girl were also reportedly present when the skull was handed over by the court. The mortal remains were taken to their native place and buried in a local masjid there on Monday night itself, family sources said.
The skull and fragments of bones, which were recovered from an isolated place some time after the death of the girl, became evidence in the case of murder of the teenage girl.
After helping solve the case of gruesome murder the mortal remains made a last, sober travel to 'its homeland' in an attempt to bring some peace to the loved ones of the girl.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
