Arossim uproar: Trio held for harassing village's girls

AROSSIM: Following the uproar in Arossim late Wednesday night, where three persons were thrashed by an angry mob of villagers, Verna police have arrested the trio-Wilson Texeira, 22, Rosario Temotio, 18, and Esctela Fernandes, 35.
Arossim residents suspect Texeira and Temotio of uploading the mobile numbers of teenage girls from the village on a porn website.
Texeira, arrested before by the Margao town police in a rape case, and also for circulating a pornographic MMS of a college student, has been remanded to judicial custody, said police.
Around 9.30pm on September 7, a local youngster alerted residents of Arossim that the guys responsible for harassing the girls in the village were in the locality.
To verify if Texeira and Temotio were indeed the troublemakers, a local dialed a mobile number that would often harass one of the girls. The number was retrieved from the girl's cellphone.
Once the call was answered by Texeira, all hell broke loose. Temotio and he were thrashed before the Verna police team arrived.
Fernandes, who appeared on the scene claiming to be the chairperson of a self-help group from Navelim and requesting the villagers to release the duo, was also not spared.
She had claimed that a political bigwig from Salcete had sent her to rescue the duo, said locals.
A police team headed by the Verna PI arrived in Arossim and took Texeira, Temotio and Fernandes into custody.
The angry residents blocked the police vehicle, demanding that the media be summoned to the village immediately.
It is only after reporters reached Arossim that the police were allowed to take the trio away.
Said the mother of one girl, "My daughter has not gone to college for one year as she would get calls from different numbers asking her to have sex with them. She continued getting the calls even though she changed her mobile number three times. She would get as many as 150 missed calls a day."
The girl added, "I lodged a complaint with the police in February this year, but no action was taken. I even traced one of the callers as Wilson Texeira and gave his name and number to the police."
A senior citizen shouted, "We insisted that reporters should be called because we have no faith in the police. They have not taken any action yet, and we are sure they will not take any strong action as Texeira is backed by politicians and ministers."
Villagers want the police to trace how the girls' numbers were uploaded everytime they were changed.