Home meant to be a refuge, but for this family, it turned into imprisonment. ADELINE BERTIN reports.In a cruel reminder of the Austrian father who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years, repeatedly raped her and fathered at least seven children, 60-year old Francis Gomes locked, beat and starved his wife and daughters for seven years. Gomes was arrested and sent to 15 days in judicial custody by a Mumbai court on October 1, after police had rescued three of them two days earlier with the help of NGO Anand Rehabilition Centre from their second floor flat in Naigaon (west), while “dad” was away…
Thane police inspector Ashok Pawar said that, “After preliminary investigations, we arrested the accused, Francis Gomes, for causing hurt to the victims and wrongfully confining them.” In his statement, Gomes claimed that his “wife and daughters were mentally unstable. I was taking care of them.”
This case has naturally triggered concern and consternation. According to the complaint, Gomes had confined his wife Theresa (55) and daughters Elizabeth (27), Geneviev (23) and Barbara (21), in the house since 2002. Apparently, he was extremely possessive and feared his girls would be raped if they ventured out.
According to Ther
esa, and the letter Geneviev wrote to the police asking for help two months ago, he never left home without locking the kitchen and the main door of the house, to give the impression that the family was away. For seven years, the women suffered: while the girls were studying, they were often denied food and fresh clothing. The windows had been boarded, denying them sunlight. They also endured violence. For example, when the youngest daughter failed her college exam, Francis hit her so hard that she suffered severe neck injuries. But the women were too scared to tell anyone about their ordeal.This June, with the help of the NGO, Geneviev managed to escape. But Theresa, Barbara and Elizabeth were too scared to leave, fearing that Francis would successfully hunt them down. In her letter, Geneviev had said: “I feel sad that my mum and two sisters, who are in need of medical care, are still at home.” As the rescued women undergo medical and psychological treatment at a city hospital, police and the judicial system must grapple with such terrible injustice at home…
