The mother of a British woman, who was allegedly killed in Goa two years ago, has demanded that the accused in the case be handcuffed while being brought to court.
The demand comes in view of two recent incidents in the state where the accused arrested in rape cases gave police the slip.
Andrea Brannigan, whose daughter Danielle McLaughling (28) was found dead near a beach in South Goa district in June 2017, on Sunday posted an undated picture on her Twitter handle of the case accused, Vikat Bhagat, being brought for trial before a court in Margao town without handcuffs.
"The accused in my daughter's murder walking to the court in Goa without handcuffs so he could easily escape as two suspects in two separate rapes in Goa have escaped in the last six months," Brannigan tweeted.
"The accused in my daughter's murder has no handcuffs, all prisoners of serious crimes should be handcuffed to prevent this happening," she said in another tweet.
On Friday, a man, accused of raping another British woman in Goa last year, escaped from police custody while he was being brought to a court in Margao from the Central Jail at Colvale in North Goa district.
In December last year, another man accused in a gangrape case in South Goa escaped from police custody when he was being taken for a medical check-up.
When contacted, a senior Goa police official said as per the Supreme Court's directives, the accused cannot be handcuffed unless there is a specific threat that he would escape from the police custody.
"A couple of incidents of escape that have happened are unfortunate, but action has been taken and the policemen who were escorting the accused have been suspended while a search is on for the accused," he added.
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