A 30-year-old man from Thanjavur was arrested by the South Goa police on Thursday for sexually assaulting a foreigner in a beach in Goa. He was nabbed in the evening of the day he committed the crime.
According to news reports, the woman, who was raped is a 48-year-old tourist, who was a frequent visitor to Goa. The incident happened a few days back. The woman was on her way back to her room from Canacona railway station around 4.30am when Ramachandrappa allegedly attacked her. He blocked her path, dragged her to the side of the road and raped her. He also fled with three bags which had Rs 20,000 cash, passport, mobile phone and other valuables of the woman. The victim went to her friend’s place after the incident and then contacted the police regarding the incident.
South Goa SP told Times of India that the CCTV footage of the area near the spot of the crime helped them nab the accused. The officer said that he was spotted in CCTV footages in places along the stretch where the incident happened and that the police stations in the area were alerted. He was nabbed from Margao railway station soon after this, the officer added.
Ramachandrappa was also wanted in a Rs 32-lakh robbery which happened in North Goa earlier in the week.
The incident comes almost two years after an Irish tourist was raped and killed in an isolated field in Canacona, Goa. On March 14, 2017, a local discovered a badly bruised body of the woman in the field and alerted the police. The police after perusing the CCTV footage from the area arrested Vikhat Bhagat for having committed the crime. The trial in that case began in April 2018 and has been fast tracked by the authorities, according to reports.