Freddy Peats, the notorious paedophile who was serving a life imprisonment at the Aguada central jail in Goa since 1996 after being convicted, died at the age of 81.
He died at the Goa Medical College Hospital from a paralytic attack.
The whole country was shocked when Peats' decade-long racket was exposed. In the name of Gurukul, which he established in a village near Colva beach in South Goa, Peats sexually exploited destitute children and also sold them to paedophiles from abroad.
The Margao police, in 1991, busted the racket. Peats was arrested on April 3, 1991 and was charge-sheeted in 1992.
The case was handed over to the CBI as per a high court order, after Mumbai-based child rights activist Sheela Barse approached the court, complaining that the local police authorities were not seriously investigating the matter.
The CBI charge-sheeted seven foreigners, including Peats, in the case.
The prosecution, while producing several witnesses, including the victims, established that the children were kidnapped, subjected to sexual abuse, sold and made available to foreign nationals.
Peats was convicted on March 21, 1996.
In July 2002, his accomplice Eoghan Colm McBride, 63, from New Zealand, was also sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment for running a child prostitution racket in the southern coastal belt of Goa.
Dominique Sabire from France were arrested in 1996. However, due to police negligence, he managed to jump bail in July 2002. He is still absconding.
The other four - Werner Wulf Ingo (Australia), Neels Oscar Johnson (Sweden), Raymond Varley (Bangkok) and Zell Jurgen Adreas alias Yogi (German) are also absconding.
Both Peats and McBride were sentenced for committing offences amounting to criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, abducting and selling minors for prostitution.
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