After the suicide of flamboyant Goa tourism minister Miccky Pacheco’s alleged girlfriend Nadia Torreado’s (28), women’s rights groups in Goa are demanding a thorough investigation into the incident and the politician’s role, if any, in it.
Torreado had consumed a whole tube of rat poison, Ratol, on May 15, along with anti-depressant pills, Alprozolam. Doctors said that cocktail of the poison and anti-depressants led to severe internal bleeding and she was airlifted first to Thane then to Apollo Hospital Chennai. In her initial statement to a magistrate in Thane, Torreado had claimed that she had consumed the rat poison mistaking it to be toothpaste. Since then she had not given any more statements as she was unconscious. She died on Sunday.
Women activists in Goa, meanwhile, have demanded that chief minister Digambar Kamat hold an inquiry and make the report public in two days. They have threatened to make this a serious issue if no action was taken. They have also threatened to write to the National Human Rights Commission and National Women’s Commission in Delhi. “Mickky is already facing a case of bigamy. Torreado was his third partner. This is not suicide but a murder and Mickky shifted her from Goa to Thane to Chennai so that her treatment could be kept a secret,” said Ms Tara Kerkar, a south Goa activist.
Meanwhile, the state BJP on Monday alleged that Torreado had been raped before being poisoned and asked for Mr Pacheco’s resignation.