Panaji:
Even as the state police are still groping in darkness over the mysterious death of a Russian girl, attempts are being made to label the girl as 'bad character' citing her alleged love affair and her habit of visiting discotheques.
Elena Sukhanova's mutilated corpse was found on Railway track on May 08 and thereafter police had immediately announced it as a death due to accidental fall from a train.
The claim, however, was refuted by railway authorities who said that a person falling from the train and getting crushed under the same train wheels was not possible.
While a team of police is probing her death, the stories of her love with a local shack waiter and her visit to discotheques are churned in local media reminding how local police had drawn similar line investigating British teenager Scarlett Keeling case.
Scarlett's semi-nude body was found on Anjuna shore and the stories of how she was partying with guys were being published in the media then.
In the 19-year-old Russian's death case too, the police officers are quoted by local media as how the girl was absolutely drunk on the fatal day. A leading local English newspaper has quoted Deputy Superintendent of Police Sammy Tavares as saying that Elena was high with beer before a taxi driver dropped her off to Thivim railway station.
Police, under the guidance of Dy SP Sammy Tavares, who verified the movements of the victim before boarding the train claimed that the girl had consumed beers at two prominent restaurants in Baga. Even the taxi driver who had dropped the victim at the railway station confirmed that she was carrying a couple of beer cans with her, the report states, quoting Tavares.
The possibility of love angle is also being highlighted in a national newspaper and news channels. Though the police are yet to conclude why she stayed back, the media is going gaga over her friendliness with a local shack waiter.
The Russian Consulate representative, who is monitoring all the media reports and police investigation, said that there is no place for character assassination. The issue here is her death and not what she used to do in the state, Vikram Varma, lawyer for the Russian consulate, said.
"Homicide is a homicide and it needs to be probed to punish the guilty. Where is the question of someone going to pubs or having friends?" Varma said.
He said that just because you had some beers does not give any one the liberty to comment on his or her character. Varma stated that the case needs serious investigation. Let these issues not derail that aspect.