CPI-M worker accused of molestation in Goa

Panaji, May 16 (IANS) A CPI-M worker from Kerala has been remanded to 14 days in judicial custody for allegedly molesting a 37-year-old woman after luring her to Goa on the pretext of procuring a Portuguese passport for her, police said on Wednesday.

An official at the Margao town police station said Vinod Kumar, allegedly a Communist Party of India-Marxist worker, molested the victim at a hotel on Tuesday, after which the victim complained to the police.

In the First Information Report, the victim has said that after they booked into the hotel, the accused allegedly started molesting her and even tore her clothes.

"We have booked him under sections 354, 354(A) 506(ii) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused is a former CPI-M councillor from Thiruvananthpuram," police Inspector Kapil Nayak said.

The official said that the victim, who was known to the accused, had travelled together from Kerala after the latter promised to arrange a Portuguese passport for her to facilitate travel to Europe.

Goa is a former Portuguese colony. Portuguese law allows Goa residents, whose parents and grandparents were born in Portuguese-held Goa, to obtain Portuguese passports for themselves.

A Portuguese passport and nationality allows those Goans who get it to get jobs in Europe without the need for a work visa. 

It provides ease of passage in the Western world allowing visa-free entry in almost 178 countries.