Margao/Vasco: Salcete has been left shaken after two elderly women were allegedly sexually assaulted in separate incidents within a week. This has prompted calls for stepped-up police surveillance, particularly in isolated households and abandoned properties.In the first case, an 85-year-old woman was allegedly raped at her house on July 8, when she was alone at home. Maina Curtorim police booked Stanley Coutinho, described as a habitual offender with prior Pocso cases registered against him in Mapusa and Verna. He was arrested by the Maina Curtorim police on Friday.In the second incident, a woman was allegedly lured into an abandoned house at Zakniband, Navelim, on July 14 under the pretext of cleaning it, where accused Kashyappa Harijan allegedly assaulted her with slaps and fist blows before raping her. He was later arrested by the Margao town police.Both cases have been booked under Sections 64(1), 74 and 76 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Residents and civic groups have flagged the vulnerability of elderly women living alone and demanded intensified police patrolling in vulnerable pockets of Salcete taluka.
