Mumbai:Union minister of state for youth affairs Raksha Khadse on Sunday filed an FIR alleging her daughter and her friends were harassed by a group of men at an event in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district. Senior NCP(SP) legislator Eknath Khadse, who is Ms Khadse’s father-in-law, slammed the state government over rising atrocities against women in Maharashtra. The incident has given ammunition to the Opposition parties, including the Congress, to attack the ruling alliance over the law-and-order situation in the state ahead of the Budget Session of the Maharashtra Legislature.Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that he has spoken with Ms Khadse and stern action will be taken against the culprits.Raksha Khadse, who is a Union minister in the Narendra Modi government, went to the police station on Sunday to file the complaint, accompanied by more than 100 people, including sixty girls.According to the sources, senior police officers had informed the Union minister that they would send a police team to register her complaint at her home, but she visited the police station with her daughter and daughter’s friends to file the complaint.After the filing of the FIR, Ms Khadse told the media that a yatra is organised every year in Kothali on the occasion of Shivratri. Her daughter went to the fair on Friday, where she was harassed by some boys.Speaking with this newspaper, Mr Khadse, who is the grandfather of the victim, said that the perpetrators are history sheeters. “When the girls were in the fair, the perpetrators tried to harass them, but security personnel prevented them. This incident is happening with my family, but it is also a social problem and it is taking place everywhere in Maharashtra,” he said.The senior NCP(SP) leader also alleged that the accused are supporters of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena MLA Chandrakant Patil.Superintendent of police of Jalgaon district Maheshwar Reddy told this newspaper that the police has registered an FIR based on the complaints of the Union minister against seven persons under Sections 75(1)(i), 78(2), 79 and 189(2) of the BNS, Sections 8 and 12 of the Pocso Act and Section 66(E) of the IT Act. “We have arrested one accused Soham Mali. Six accused are still at large. We have formed four police teams to search for other accused in this case,” Mr. Reddy said.Shiv Sena MLA Chandrakant Patil said that stern action should be taken against the accused so that it will give a strong message to society. “It is irrelevant if the accused belong to any party. The action must be taken against those who have disrespected the women and girls,” he said.Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress chief Harshavardhan Sapkal said that it is a matter of shame for the BJP-led government that the Union minister has to visit a police station to demand the arrest of the eve-teaser.Demanding the resignation of Mr Fadnavis, who has kept the home portfolio with himself, over the law and order situation, Mr. Sapkal said, “Since the accused were not arrested, Ms Khadse had to stage a protest at the police station, exposing the lawlessness prevailing in Maharashtra. The increasing crimes against women have brought shame to the state, and Mr Fadnavis has completely failed to maintain law and order. Therefore, he should immediately resign.”
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