Charge against Goa MLA a shame, but system is broke: BJP spokesman

The public is concerned about the alleged sexual enslavement of a minor girl by a Goa legislator, given that "every system" in the country has become "bankrupt," state BJP spokesman Wilfred Mesquita has said.

The arrest on Thursday of the MLA Atanasio Monserrate on the charge of purchasing and sexually exploiting a minor girl has brought shame to Goa, Mesquita, a former minister, told reporters here.

He, however, placed the alleged crime in the larger context of systemic corruption.

"People in Goa are bothered about the outcome of this case, considering that every system in this country and Goa whether it is electoral, whether political, whether administrative or even judicial is bankrupt," Mesquita said.

Monserrate has been accused by a minor girl of purchasing her with the help of her mother and a pimp and raping her on several occasions in March.

Monserrate was arrested on Thursday, after he surrendered to the police, less than 24 hours after the FIR was filed against him by the Goa Police Crime Branch. He has since been remanded in three days' police custody.

Mesquita said that while the charges are yet to be proven, they have brought shame to Goa.

"I can tell one thing that if this suspicion becomes truth, really (if) it becomes a fact, that (will be) the biggest shame to the people of Goa who put such elements on the pedestal of power," Mesquita said.

Over the last decade Monserrate emerged as a significant player in Goan politics and served as a minister in cabinets of Congress as well as BJP-led coalition governments.

--IANS

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