In 2019 when Monserrate joined Congress Party, he made a statement that “I am here to defeat the BJP”. Today this same person swore to defeat Congress in Goa. Monserrate, who has a history of changing parties. He is fielded from Panaji against Utpal Parrikar, son of late Manohar Parrikar, who is contesting independently quitting BJP.
Monserrate started his political career with the United Goan Democratic Party (UGDP) and became an MLA. Later, he joined the BJP in 2004 only to return to the UGDP in 2007. There after he joined Congress and swore against BJP, he was expelled from the Congress party for anti-party activities in 2015. He then joined the Goa Forward (GF) and was an office-bearer till a few weeks and thereafter became an independent MLA.
Monserrate first won an election and became an MLA in 2002. Goa’s real estate boom helped him to acquire a huge fortune and cement his position in state politics. He has hobnobbed with both the Congress and BJP depending on the situation. He is an ambitious politician and has made it clear that he wants to become Goa’s chief minister after the 2017 Assembly elections.
Monserrate is believed to be a prominent leader in Goa, despite being charge-sheeted for raping a minor girl, and for human trafficking. Authorities have previously also booked him in a case of extortion. Monserrate has been a controversial minister. He has earlier been charged in several cases and accused of extortion and assaulting police officers.
Now this year he returned to BJP by promising them a victory. A seasoned and matured politician with a lot of experience, Devendra Fadnavis, chose Monserrate over some credible BJP leader is really a mystery. I don’t endorse Parrikar, because I know BJP least entertains nepotism. Parrikar needs to have required experience than having his reliable surname to his credit.
Interestingly, Narendra Modi and BJP’s major slogan is “Save Girl child and educate her” (Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao). This politician Monserrate has raped a minor girl who used to work in a Hallmark outlet at Miramar owned by Babush Monseratte himself. She worked from November 2015 to March 4, 2016. Her neighbor, whom she called Aunty Rosy, had introduced her to Babush.
Two days after she quit her job, her “Aunty” and mother took her to meet Monserrate. He asked the girl what she was interested in and whether she wanted to study. The girl refused and said wanted to go back home. After three-four days, the girl was taken to his farmhouse in Talegaon by her “Aunty” and mother. She was made to have a drink which the police believe was spiked. She passed out after having the drink.
According to the girl, when she woke up, she found that she was lying on Monserrate’s bed. There was blood on the bed sheet and the MLA was sitting on the chair shirtless, she claimed. He asked her if she wanted to stay at the farmhouse but she refused. This incident took place in the second week of March. Thereafter, she went to her friend’s place and kept the clothes that she was wearing inside a bag. The bag was recovered by the police.
She went back home and had an altercation with her mother when she was asked why she had come back. The mother told her that she had sold her off to Monserrate for Rs 50 lakh. She left the house and started staying with her friend. The police called the mother and the girl in the presence of the victim assistance unit. The girl was furious and did not want to return home with her mother. She was taken to a children’s welfare home. It was during her stay at the children’s home, she opened up and narrated the horrific incident to a counselor. Surprisingly no action was taken against her aunt, mother and minister. His son, Rohit was also accused and later acquitted of raping a German minor.
The Goa Children’s Court in 2009 framed charges against Rohit, for raping and sending obscene messages to a 14-year-old German girl. He raped her in his Audi car at the Bambolim plateau near Taleigao, his father’s constituency. She also submitted to the police the messages sent by Rohit to the minor’s mobile, asking her to smoke and drink heavily to abort possible pregnancy. While the case was in the news for a few months, the police refused to file a complaint. The victim and her mother left for Germany and later sent a letter to the Goa authorities claiming she did not wish to pursue the case because the government was conniving with the accused. Late Manohar Parrikar, then the CM of Goa, admitted that the police had committed several irregularities. The police did not even examine the victim, which was mandatory in the investigation. Rohit was acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence against him.
Pained Parrikar expressed his helplessness stating “there was the need to figure out whether it was a “a case filed to put someone in trouble”. “Not much can be done about the case now because the girl has not been examined by the police. It should have been done. From the note I have received (from the police department), it appears that there was a settlement,”. One BJP leader who was aggrieved to see the plight of girls after the molestation by father and son, and here is another BJP leader and former CM of Maharashtra who has placed this alleged rapist over credible loyalists of BJP.
