Mental tests on ‘monster father’

Gomes was produced in the court after Genevieve filed an application before the Vasai magistrate’s court to cancel his bail and to send him for psychiatric treatment. However,the Vasai magistrate,who had granted the bail,did not entertain the application and directed Genevieve to apply instead to the judicial magistrate first class at Thane.

Gomes had allegedly kept his family locked in their home at Neelamber Society in Vasai (West) since 2002,apparently for fear that his daughters would get raped if they ventured out. Police say that before he left home each morning,he would lock the door,giving the impression that the family was away.

“The women were often denied food and new clothes,the windows boarded. The women were not allowed to watch TV in the belief that their thinking would get corrupted,” said an officer of Manikpur police station.

Genevieve was rescued in June after some activists got to know about her plight. The rest of the family was rescued on September 29 when a local NGO took the police to the house.

The daughters in their statement have alleged that Gomes would often hit them,and once assaulted his youngest daughter so severely that she suffered injuries on her neck. Gomes’s wife and daughters are currently admitted to JJ Hospital.

The Vasai court granted bail to Gomes against a cash amount of Rs 5,000. It will be executed on Friday.