The whole of Goa has been shaken by the double murder of two innocent children that took place in Orda-Candolim on Saturday night while the New Year celebrations were still in full swing in the state.
After this unfortunate incident, the father of the dead children reportedly hanged himself from the tree behind his house. The entire village has gone into mourning after this incident.
As per the available information, the Calangute police have sent all three dead bodies to the Goa Medical Hospital, Bambolim, for post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police Bosco George, who arrived at the scene, told reporters that the killing of the minor children has been registered as an immoral death, and this incident will be investigated from the perspective of murder. Both the children were reportedly strangled with a nylon rope and the same rope has been suspected to have been used by the father, Joy Fernandes, to hang himself.
Joy Fernandes is associated with the tiatr circle and was well-known among the tiatr lovers of the state. He also worked at the Kala Akademi sponsored Tiatr Academy for five years, during the tenure of former Calangute MLA and deputy speaker Tomazinho Cardoso. He was also active for a long time in the activities of the village church as well as on the Calangute group committee of a national party.
Among the minor children of Fernandes, the elder daughter was studying in a reputed high school in Dona Paula while the younger son was studying in a private kindergarten in Porvorim. Joy's wife Ernia Pereira e Fernandes works as a teacher in a reputed high school in Merces.
As per the available information, on the day of the murders, Ernia had returned home around 2 pm on Saturday as she was going to attend a wedding ceremony. She had bid farewell to both her children and her husband Joy Fernandes. By 10 pm, when she returned home, she was struck by this tragic news.
As soon as the news of this tragedy spread in the village, the locals flocked to Fernandes' residence last night.