Police arrest alleged molester hours after US tourist complains on Facebook

Panaji, Jan 30 : Hours after a US tourist complained on social media of being molested during a bike ride, while on a holiday in Goa on Republic Day eve, Police on Tuesday arrested one Isidore Ferandes, 44, as a suspect for the alleged crime.

Speaking to IANS Police Inspector C.L. Patil said that Fernandes, a resident of Anjuna, was arrested and handed over to the neighbouring Pernem police station, in whose jurisdiction the alleged crime occurred.

The New York-based woman tourist in her Facebook post uploaded late on Monday night, had narrated her harrowing experience during the Republic Day weekend in Goa, when she hired Fernandes' motorcycle taxi for a ride from Arpora village in North Goa to Morjim beach village, located nearly 40 km from Panaji.

"He picked me up post-dinner, and when we were making our way back to my hotel in Morjim that he started misbehaving. He asked me if I would give him a kiss and obviously, I said no. I tried to keep it light and suggested he 'keep it professional'. 

"I noticed that he kept taking turns into lanes that weren't on our route and he kept saying that they were shortcuts, but it had already been 40 minutes on his bike," the Facebook post said.

"As we drove along, he forced my hands and took them under his shirt and despite constantly telling him to 'keep it professional', he took my hands further down over his pants. And then he said he needed to pull over. 

She wrote that Fernandes then stopped the bike and tried to get close, when she "got off the bike, threw a 500 rupee note at him and ran down the street. Thankfully, I got to a busy main road and he lost me."