‘Paloma wanted to reform her lover’

Logoriou Abrosio Fernandez, whose daughter was stabbed to death on Wednesday by her boyfriend Aquino Martis, said there was nothing common between her daughter and Martis. “He is a history-sheeter,” Fernandez said. The 53-year-old journalist was speaking over the phone from Goa on Thursday. “Paloma sympathised with Martis because he was ostracised by the people in the locality. She pitied him and wanted to reform him.”

Paloma, an employee of JP Morgan, a BPO in Malad, was stabbed by Martis early on Wednesday near her house in Reshmi Hetal building in Mira Road. Police said Paloma had accused Martis of stealing her debit card, which had irked him.

Paloma’s family was unhappy about her relationship with Martis. When her mother Fransisca, who often visited her, enquired about Martis in the neighbourhood, no one spoke highly about him. “He was a known goonda in the area,” Fernandez said. He came to know of his daughter’s affair with Martis last month.

“I came to Mumbai to stay with Paloma early this month as she was keeping unwell. I even told her to return to Goa and stay away from Martis for some time,” he said.

Paloma, an arts graduate, had come down to Mumbai five years ago in search of a job.

“She was keen to work in call centres as she spoke fluent English,” Fernandez said. Also, she was smart and headstrong who never changed her decisions, he said.
She got several good marriage proposals from Goa. “She was herself highly paid. I could not understand why she wanted to settle down with an unemployed man younger to her.” Paloma was the second of Fernandez’s three daughters and one son.

“We always thought she was going the wrong way by choosing Martis but we never pressurised her to change her mind. Had I been a bit stern with her, she would have been alive today,” he said.