A police complaint was lodged by an NGO against Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee chief Pratima Coutinho for allegedly revealing the identities of two molestation and sexual abuse victims.
Savera, a state-based NGO, in its complaint, has alleged that Coutinho had gone to the house of a molestation victim, a minor, last week and then released pictures and other details of her visit on social media.
The complainant, Tara Kerkar, also stated that Coutinho had, earlier, presented to the media another victim of sexual abuse at a press conference the latter had held.
The NGO's complaint was lodged at Women Police Station here and a senior official said it was being examined.
Kerkar said that Coutinho was a lawyer herself and was well aware of the legal provisions in cases connected to molestation and sexual abuse.
However, when contacted, Coutinho claimed that the sexual abuse victim had herself consented to face the camera as she wanted to set an example for other women.
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"I had not asked the victim to face the camera. She did it on her own. The victim wanted to set an example that girls should be exposing the perpetrators of these crimes," Coutinho said.
In the case of the molestation victim, Coutinho denied that she had revealed the minor's identity. "I met her in a closed room," she claimed.
Coutinho said her pictures, clicked alongside the minor victim's mother, were for "personal purposes".