New Delhi: For decades, Francisco Sousa and his guitar serenaded all who walked into Casa Portuguesa, one of the oldest restaurants in Goa’s Calangute. The death of the lawyer-restaurateur during the pandemic sparked off a bitter property dispute involving his widow, Nirmala Acharya Sousa, and his former lover, the flamboyant French actor Marianne Borgo, who has starred in films like A Little Princess (1986) and The Bourne Identity (1988), besides serving on the jury of several Indian film festivals.
Late Thursday night, Borgo vacated the disputed Calangute-based property after 11 days without power or water, which she claims were cut off by “goons” hired by the widow. “Nirmala Sousa deployed her sister and private security who had driven a jeep in to block the driveway and locked the gate, restricting entry to everyone, even the police, at times. Electricity, water and eventually gas was also cut off,” Borgo told ThePrint.
This came on the day a lower court in Goa’s Mapusa concluded that a settlement between the two parties was “not possible”. The next hearing in the case, which began in November 2021, will take place on 6 February.
Borgo claims she bought the property for approximately Rs 1.2 crore in 2008 when she was in a relationship with Sousa and it was registered in his name. The actor is now seeking at least Rs 2 crore (accounting for interest) from Sousa’s widow. The widow, in turn, claims ownership of the property was transferred to her name following her husband’s death. Speaking to ThePrint, the widow said she did not owe Borgo “ek naya (one new) paisa”.
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Hired ‘goons’ to break in
On 23 January, Borgo filed a police complaint against Nirmala, accusing her of hiring “goons” to break into the house to forcibly repossess it. The complaint, a copy of which is with ThePrint, alleged that a number of Borgo’s belongings including an iPad were stolen during the alleged break-in.
“Nirmala and her goons are trying to scare me while the case is sub judice. It’s clearly an intimidation tactic. Goa Police have done little to follow up on the FIR despite CCTV footage and other evidence. They haven’t even tried to trace the iPad,” said Borgo.
Asked about Borgo’s complaint, North Goa Superintendent of Police (SP) Nidhin Valsan told ThePrint, “This matter is sub judice. Until it is settled, she (Borgo) can’t claim that it is her house. It is yet unconfirmed if it is her house. There are allegations against her as well that she has barged into someone else’s property.”
Confirming that the widow has also filed a complaint against Borgo, Valsan added that the French actor is yet to submit any documents regarding ownership of the disputed property “other than transfer of some £30,000 to some account which does not belong to the owner”.
“The other party (Nirmala) is married to the owner who died. She got the property registered in her name and there is a revenue record of that, the mutation has taken place in Nirmala Acharya Sousa’s name. Both parties are claiming to be owners of the property and the matter is sub-judice,” the SP said. Valsan said there is a need to check first “if a French person can buy/own property here in India like this”.
On the alleged break-in, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity, “People also try to manipulate the system by saying that something has been stolen from my house just to prove that that house or property belongs to them. Marianne Borgo jumped into the property across the fence, there is a video of that.”
“We are waiting for orders from the court,” the SP said when asked if the complaints have been turned into FIRs and any action has been taken on Borgo and Sousa’s allegations.
Refuting Borgo’s claims, Nirmala told ThePrint, “I don’t have enough money to hire goons and scare. Francisco and I got married in 2014. Since then, we have been in possession of the house key and have had housekeepers look after the property over the years.”
However, a local who lives near the disputed property claimed he saw otherwise. “Dom, one of the goons who came to the house on 23 January, said he was hired by Nirmala. Even Nirmala’s sister was present during the incident,” alleged the local.
Dismissal of writ petition by Borgo
Shortly after the alleged break-in, Borgo had filed a writ petition with the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, seeking police protection on the grounds that she was being “forcibly dispossessed” by Francisco’s widow. On 25 January, the HC dismissed her petition. A copy of the order accessed by ThePrint shows that the bench refused to entertain the petition citing the case pending before the lower court in Mapusa.
“We are not inclined to entertain this writ petition because the same would involve adjudicating into disputed questions of fact,” the HC ruled. It added, “We have not gone into merits of the matter because we think that such merits could be examined by the learned Civil Judge Senior Division at Mapusa which is seized of the Civil Suit instituted by the petitioner.”
Borgo also shared a video with ThePrint shot on 31 January at around 5 pm. The video shows her arguing with a Goan policeman who she had called on for protection. She can be heard asking the policeman to allow her neighbour to get safe passage past the “goons” who can be seen allegedly blocking the gate of the disputed property with a black jeep. The policeman can be heard saying that he cannot “interfere” since the matter is sub judice.
Borgo says she plans to appeal to a higher court if the lower court does not rule in her favour.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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