Raising doubts that former Goa tourism minister Mickky Pacheco’s girlfriend Nadia Torrado had died after taking rat poison by mistake, the South Goa district and sessions court on Thursday rejected Mr Pacheco’s anticipatory bail petition and said Ms Torrado might have been induced to consume poison.
The crime branch charged Mr Pacheco with culpable homicide on Thursday after his bail plea was rejected. He was also charged with abetment of suicide and destroying evidence.
Sources said the missing former minister’s party, the NCP, has asked him to surrender. Mr Pacheco might now approach the Bombay high court for anticipatory bail.
Nadia’s estranged husband, Winston Barretto, withdrew his anticipatory bail plea on Thursday.
Detectives told the court Mr Pacheco had paid Ms Torrado’s family around Rs 35 lakhs in instalments since Ms Torrado consumed rat poison on May 15, which has mainly been used on her hospital treatment.
The Torrados’ maidservant has confessed to burning five bags containing Nadia’s documents and clothes, and the police also found a partly-burnt airline boarding card of Nadia’s for a Gulf destination. A second maidservant is missing.
The case against Mr Pacheco appears strong. Ms Torrado’s post-mortem reports show 11 wounds, including two apparently inflicted by a blunt instrument.
Ms Torrado’s mother Sonia Torrado on Wednesday urged the Bombay high court to order the CBI to investigate, saying the crime branch forced her and her family to give false evidence.