Mumbai artist sexually assaulted in Goa, video goes viral

Pic/Youtube

A Mumbai-based artist, Durga Gawde took to social media to express her outrage on how she was sexually and physically assaulted on a busy road in North Goa. She also expressed disappointment because the accused was granted bail after four days.

Gawde urged social media users to use the hashtag #StandUpForYourself and #LockUpBrianFranco. Gawde said that the accused assaulted her after she complained about him speaking on the phone while riding a two-wheeler. He almost crashed into her vehicle near a petrol pump at Saligao village on May 31.

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She wrote, "He stalked me, cornered my bike and stopped his bike in front of mine such that I had to stop. He proceeded to remove my bike keys and threw them away and then started to hit my bike and intimidate me. I was not scared, I looked straight into his eyes without fear."

She also described how the accused abused her sexually. "Even though the cops at Saligao police station were helpful and seemed to be on my side, while I was giving my statement Brian Franco was behaving obscenely," she said.

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The police inspector in charge of the police station, Santosh Desai, told The Hindu, "He was soon remanded in police custody for two days. After we objected to his release, he was again remanded for two more days by the magistrate, before being released on bail. He was in police custody for four days."

The accused was arrested under sections 354(outraging modesty) and 354 d (stalking) 323 (causing hurt voluntarily), and 504 (breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code.

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