Congress and its frontal organisations marched to Goa police headquarters in Panaji on Thursday, seeking time-bound investigations into recent cases involving the alleged sexual assault of minor girls and stronger enforcement of child-protection measures. A delegation submitted a memorandum to Director General of Police Alok Kumar, demanding a written action-taken report within seven days.
The protesters raised concerns about cases reported from Mapusa, Canacona and Curchorem. Their demands included faster investigations, action against police personnel found negligent, enhanced night patrolling and wider surveillance in areas considered vulnerable to crimes against women and children.
The delegation was led by Congress media chairperson Amarnath Panjikar and Youth Congress president Archit Naik. The protesters also called for improved coordination between the police and child-protection agencies, along with support for survivors and their families.
Panjikar claimed that crimes involving sexual abuse of women and children had increased by 63% over the past five years. The figure was presented by Congress during the protest and was not independently established in the report. He also compared a national crime rate against women of 4.3% with a figure of 13.3% for Goa, without the report specifying the underlying dataset or period.
“Women’s safety cannot be reduced to political slogans and election speeches,” Panjikar said. He argued that arrests following crimes should not by themselves be presented as evidence of an effective response, and pressed the police administration to demonstrate progress through time-bound investigations and action-taken reporting.
Naik alleged that Goa was becoming the “rape capital of the country” and said that concerns over women’s safety could affect tourism. The allegation was made during the political protest and was not independently substantiated in the report. The tourism reference links public safety concerns to the functioning of Goa’s wider urban and visitor economy, but no specific tourism impact was cited.
Mahila Congress general secretary Shabnam Khan alleged that existing laws were not being implemented effectively. Former Mahila Congress president Pratima Coutinho sought fast-track trials in cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and questioned the silence of BJP women leaders.
The memorandum also sought a review of the law-and-order situation, stricter enforcement of the POCSO Act, and measures to ensure that child-protection institutions and the police respond in coordination. It called for survivor and family support in addition to criminal investigation, placing responsibility on multiple parts of the public safety and child-protection system.
The immediate administrative request from Congress is a written action-taken report within seven days. The report did not include a response from the Goa police or specify whether the DGP accepted a formal deadline for replying to the memorandum.
