Union Minister Raksha Khadse on Sunday lodged a police complaint regarding the harassment of her daughter and some of her friends by a group of men at an event in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, following which one person was arrested.
The first information report (FIR) was registered on the complaint of Khadse at Muktainagar police station in connection with an incident that occurred at Sant Muktai Yatra in Kothali village on Friday night.
Seven persons have been named in the FIR, of which one, identified as Soham Mali, has been arrested, a Muktainagar police station official said in the evening. He added that teams have been formed the nab the other accused.
The seven have been charged with stalking and other offences under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while Information Technology Act provisions have been invoked since they tried to take pictures and videos of the girls without permission, the official informed.
The bodyguards accompanying the girls named the seven persons, the police official added.
Talking to reporters earlier in the day, the Union minister and BJP leader said, "I was in Gujarat, so my daughter called me to ask for permission to go. I asked her to take a guard and two to three staff members along. My daughter and her friends were followed and pushed, and their photos and videos were taken. When my staff objected, the boys resorted to unruly behaviour, and a mob of 30 to 40 people gathered."
Khadse said when she returned home this morning, her daughter told her that the same group had misbehaved with her on February 24 at a public event.
"It is unfortunate. If such things happen to an MP or Union minister's daughter, imagine what common people have to go through," she said.
Khadse said some locals in Muktainagar told her that this group harassed girls on their way to school.
"I have spoken to the chief minister and the deputy superintendent of police," she said, demanding that the culprits be arrested.
Speaking to reporters in Raigad, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "Those who harassed Khadse's daughter are from a political party. The local police have arrested some of them and registered a case. There will be strict action taken against them."
Raksha Khadse's father-in-law, former minister and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader Eknath Khadse said, "The police have already received several complaints against these youths in the past, but no effective steps were taken. These boys are hardened criminals."
He claimed that crimes against women have increased in Maharashtra, and criminals are not afraid of the police.
"Girls do not come forward to lodge complaints. Parents believe that the names of their daughters should not be disclosed. We complained as we had no option left," he said.
"I have spoken to the DSP and IG. When we went to the police station first, we were made to sit for two hours. The police told us to rethink the issue as it relates to girls. The youths have beaten up the police also. These people have political protection," the NCP-SP leader said.
Reacting to the development, Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal claimed the law and order situation in the state has collapsed under the Mahayuti government.
"The incident of Union Minister Khadse's daughter being molested by thugs and security guards being pushed is extremely worrying and shows that women and girls are not safe in the state," he said.
He claimed that Khadse was sitting in the police station because persons who molested her daughter and other girls were not being arrested.
Sapkal said, "There has been an increase in atrocities against women and girls in the state. If the daughter of a Union minister is unsafe, it is better not to think about girls of common citizens."
He said CM Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, has lost focus.
"The fact that a minister's daughter was molested even in the presence of security guards is a sign that the law and order has gone haywire. Fadnavis should resign from the post of home minister and give the state a full-time competent home minister for the safety of mothers and sisters in the state," the Congress leader said.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vijay Wadettiwar said the news of Khadse's daughter being molested while under police protection reflects the reality prevalent in Maharashtra.
"The minister had to go directly to the police station to demand that the accused be arrested. We have been saying for a long time that the police are no longer feared in the state because gangsters get protection from the ruling Mahayuti," he claimed.
The Mahayuti government has been shown a mirror by its Central minister, Wadettiwar said, questioning if the incident will awaken the chief minister and the two deputy chief ministers.
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