NAVELIM: Barring a few stray incidents including alleged assault on three family members in Curtorim, panchayat elections by and large passed away peacefully in Salcete.
The three injured were identified as Hasina Shahubadi, her husband Nazer and her son Abdulla who allegedly were assaulted by a duo for supporting a rival candidate. Hasina has been admitted to Hospicio Hospital with a broken nose while Nazer and Abdulla were discharged after treatment.
The woman informed that the two brothers assaulted her after she returned from voting for supporting the rival candidate. She said that they punched her on the nose and when her son came to her rescue, they hit a glass bottle on his leg.
She also informed that the duo assaulted her husband who also came to her rescue leaving him injured. All the three family members were later taken to Hospicio for treatment while the police are investigating the case.
Meanwhile, polling began on a slow note in the morning in most villages across Salcete with just about 37 per cent voting recorded in the first four hours. Villages of Benaulim and Varca saw above average voting for the first four hours with nearly 50 per cent of voting completed.
Confusion prevailed at several polling booths as two wards were clubbed in the same polling station. Voting was delayed at several places as voters faced problems of slow moving queues with many voters returning back due to the confusion.
In Aquem-Baixo, nearly 270-odd service voters’ cast their votes. Unlike the assembly elections, the voters came in small batches to exercise their franchise.
Some voters also raised apprehensions over the elections process as the serial number of the voting slips were being recorded and even raised objection. However, they were later informed that it is part of the election process.