Goan Christian Criminals.
Embracing him with a fatherly hug and true to the Christian teachings, the ex Bishop of Kuwait Mong. Frances Mechallef, a Maltese by nationality, according to my information when he visited Francis Araujo in the Kuwaiti prison awaiting the execution of his death sentence, a few months before the invasion of Kuwait, asked Araujo: “Why my son you had to commit such ghastly crimes?” With tears in his eyes, Francis Araujo from St. Cruz, Ilhas Goa, replied: “Your Lordship, really I lost my temper because both the Driver and Conductor of that Bus assaulted me very badly and humiliated me miserably. Hence, I could not control my temper and thus I stabbed both the Egyptian Driver and Turkish Conductor of the Bus”. This was done almost at the spur of the moment and was not planned much in advance. On the other hand, the crime committed on his father-in-law by Ryan Fernandes with the help of his other two accomplices Francis D’Sa and Rajan Singh was well planned much in advance in Goa two years back. According to the latest reports appearing from Goa, Ryan Fernandes a young man and the main accused was sentenced to death by the South Goa Session Court on last Friday and his other two partners in the same crime D’Sa and Singh were sentenced for life in prison. What a tragedy!!
Was it essential for Ryan Fernandes to kill his father-in-law in such a cruel manner in a well executed plan? It was in a very cruel manner he killed his father-in-law Dr. Shrikant Verenkar from Vasco by first abducting him when he was taking his regular morning walk. Using venomous Cobra and deadly injections to poison Dr. Verenkar were the other cruelest and foulest methods used in this heinous murder. The reputed Doctor from Vasco having his own Hospital was killed by torturing, the mastermind of this all was his young son-in-law Ryan Fernandes. What was the reason behind this murder and what was the fault of his doctor father-in-law? Yes, his fault was that he gave shelter to his daughter and wife of Ryan when she needed help to avoid harassment from her husband.
What is wrong with our young unmarried girls so as to fall in love with any Altu-Faltu boys without analyzing their real antecedents? What is wrong with our young girls to get attracted immediately to any boy without knowing and studying him well? Are our girls become so cheap to loaf and to flirt with any person without knowing his character and background? Yes, this is happening many times in our society now. Sarika, Ryan’s wife, was a young girl coming from a reputed family background and while doing her medical studies in Kholapur she fell in love with Ryan. Not only she fell in love with Ryan but because of this love she discontinued her glorious medical studies and became an unwed mother of Ryan’s child. According to the information Ryan coaxed Sarika because he had his eyes on the wealth of her father who was a prominent and rich doctor in Vasco. Sarika should have been little clever to analyse the steps of Rayan before succumbing to his wishes. As a medical student she should have been more clever and matured intellectually to know what is good and what is bad especially when she encountered a young man who was different from her in many respects. Many of the boys are now-a-days going after girls not because they love the girls whom they are coaxing but because of the wealth, influence and power of the parents and families of the girls. Also because of the affluence of the girls in many ways. This is not genuine love but genuine hostage taking of the girls by the crook boys to extort financial and other material benefits from the girls and girls’ parents by using the girls as extortion weapons.
Most of the present day parents are suffering humiliations and crimes only because of their daughters who put their innocent parents into shame by running after any boy whose character, discipline, education, cultural, traditional, family, religious and other attributes do not match with that of the girls. It all happens because young girls are reckless in selecting their life partners. It also happens because young girls fail to recognize their dignity, integrity, character and quality leading to becoming prey to the false promises of the loafer type of boys. The Western sense of WomenLib is yet another factor for our modern day girls to take law into their own hands to decide about their future. If they take the right decision then well and good but many times they take wrong decisions as Sarika has taken by falling in love with a misfit Rayan Fernandes because of which not only the girls put their lives into problems but more than that their wrong decisions put their innocent parents into shame and problems. Our elders, teachers and mainly Priests and religious leaders should give proper guidance to our youth especially young girls on this topic. Because, when our girls laugh their parents may not laugh with them but when they cry then definitely their parents and guides will also cry. How sad it is for the parents of the girls to see their daughters suffering from the hands of their husbands when they have undergone so beautiful, peaceful and decent life as spinsters in the homes of their parents!! Which loving parents will like to see their loving daughters crying under the custody of their hard hearted and cruel husbands?
I have been watching many of our parents in this part of the world crying and suffering because of the wrong decisions taken by their children while gone for studies in the West. Many of our young boys and girls during their stay in the West fall in love with someone whose national, cultural, educational, traditional, family and religious backgrounds are totally different from theirs. Many of such unions and marriages are turned into fiasco within a very short time. These are not marriages but legal contracts to commit adultery in the name of legal sex thru short term marriages. Can we do something about it? Many of our young boys and girls when they go to the West in the name of further studies they are getting lost to their parents, birth place Goa, Goan culture, Goan tradition and Goan society. Some of them turn out to be hippies and rebels. Every son and every daughter of our parents going for studies to the West is as good as almost dead to their parents.
Coming back to Ryan’s death sentence, if it is confirmed by the High Court and if it is executed then it will be the second time in Goa death sentence to be executed. First time it was in mid seventies when one Malyali Kumar was hanged at Aguada. To hang Kumar whose real name was Peter, especial gallows was installed because that was the first time such an incident took place in Goa. During Portuguese time, maximum sentence was for life, no death by hanging. If Ryan Fernandes’ execution goes ahead, where will it be in Goa? Again will it be at Aguada with yet another gallows to be installed?
By the way, why in Goa, our “Bhangarachem” Goa, our St. Francis “Saibachem” Goa, only Christians in big number commit deadly crimes? Why in our dearest Goa, only Christians are become gangsters, extortionists, robbers, rapists and rowdies in greater number? Where our discipline went wrong? Are our parents responsible for this lapse in their children? Are our community leaders failed in doing their proper duties in guiding our youth in right direction? Or our Church leaders and Priests failed us Christian community? While dying, the great Goan intellectual Fr. Mendonca the then Principal of St. Joseph’s High School Arpora uttered these words to his Vice Principal Fr. Peter D’Souza: “Fr. Peter, I don’t fear to die but I fear to foresee that our future Goan youth would turn out violent”. What prophetic words were these from a priest who worked so hard to discipline the Goan youth then!! May the great soul of Goan Fr. Mendonca Rest In Peace. And may God save us and Goa from more more criminals.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
