Panaji, July 11 (IANS) A 12-day delay in registration of a criminal complaint by the Goa police may let the state education minister’s son, accused of raping a 14-year-old German girl, go scot free.
Government’s forensic expert Silvano Sapeco, in his deposition before the Goa Children’s Court Friday, said that while live sperms could be detected within 48 hours in the vaginal area, “there was a possibility of collecting dead sperms only up to 21 days. Beyond the above period, it is not possible to detect semen/sperms”.

Police had refused to file a first information report (FIR) against 21-year-old Rohit, son of Education Minister Atanasio Monserrate, after he was accused by the mother of the German teenager of raping and sending lewd SMSes to her daughter.

In the text messages, Rohit had asked the girl to “drink a lot and smoke in order to avoid getting pregnant”.

After the complaint was filed Oct 2, the police had finally registered an FIR Oct 14, after the German consul general expressed his concern in writing to the state chief secretary.

After the 12-day delay in registration of the complaint, the police then took nearly a fortnight more to conduct medical examinations.

Incidentally, Sapeco is the same forensic expert who was suspended twice for allegedly hushing up the murder of British teenager Scarlett Keeling in the post mortem report last year and bungling up another autopsy report, where he had allegedly passed off a murder as a suicide in 2004.

Reinstated some months back, Sapeco has now told the trial court that the German minor girl was used to intercourse.

“On the basis of old hymenal tears found, I could say that the victim was used to sexual intercourse. However, due to old healed tears, it is difficult to ascertain the time and date of the last sexual intercourse with the victim,” he has said in his deposition.

Sapeco has also said that the slightly enlarged state of the minor girl’s liver was indicative of alcohol consumption.