Goa education minister loses ‘face’ on Facebook

PANAJI - Interested in ‘women’ and looking for ‘dating’, is a succinct introduction to Goa Education Minister Atanasio Monserrate on his Facebook page. Only, the account is fake.

The Panaji police are looking for the imposter who created Monserrate’s fake page and used it to hurl a slew of abuses to several persons known to Monserrate, including sitting Curtorim legislator Reginaldo Lourenco, who brought the fake page to Monserrate’s notice.

“I am pretty much a computer illiterate. I cannot operate these sites. Somebody must have made an account using my name and has been chatting as well. I was informed about this by Reginaldo, who was abused by the impostor while chatting,” Monserrate told IANS, adding, that all the while Reginaldo thought he was speaking to the education minister.

The imposter, who seems to have a sense of humour besides his abusive streak, has linked Spanish singer Julio Iglesias’ YouTube video “To all the girls I’ve loved before” on Monserrate’s fake page.

When a visitor to his page, Josephine S. Araujo commented on the video, pointing out that it was, in fact, “Engelbert’s (Humperdinck) song”, the imposter replied to her in a flirtatious tone: “But darling, this is Julio Iglesias singing”.

Posing as the education minister, the faker also assured Anthony Viegas, a Muscat-based Goan, that he was trying to re-introduce traditional Goan bull-fighting, ‘dhirio’, in which two well-bred and trained bulls lock horns and smash their foreheads until one bull emerges victorious and the vanquished scampers away.

“I’m trying my best, I love the dhirio too,” the imposter assures Viegas.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Deu Benualikar confirmed the complaint filed by the Congressman.

“He (Monserrate) came to us with a printout of the Facebook page and filed a complaint. We will find out who the imposter is as he is using the page to malign the minister,” Benaulikar said.

–Indo Asian News Service