Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, along with party leaders, stage a protest at Shiv Sena Bhavan MUMBAI: Amid rains, MVA leaders along with supporters, wore black bands and masks on Saturday, and protested against the govt and the sexual assault incident of two minor girls inside the school premises at Badlapur . Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray protested outside his party headquarters at Dadar along with his family and other party leaders, whereas NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar protested in Pune and Congress 's state president Nana Patole in Thane. The ruling party, BJP , also organised protests at several places against the MVA for politicising the Badlapur sexual assault incident.
Following the Bombay High Court order on Friday, the MVA had called off its Saturday's statewide bandh and decided that instead, they would wear black badges and masks and resort to a sit-in strike across the state with black flags to register their protest. Uddhav and Pawar had said that they called off the bandh to respect high court order, although they did not agree with it, but there was no time left to challenge it in the SC. Uddhav said, "Even though they have banned our bandh, today the torch against this atrocity burns in every heart, every house of Maharashtra.
..the evil person must be punished, but so must those who support them.
" NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that the incident of sexual abuse of a minor girl in Badlapur has badly dented the reputation of Maharashtra. He also expressed concern over the rising cases of atrocities on women in the state and said that not a single day passes without a case of sexual abuse being reported in the state. Pawar said on X, "How insensitive are the rulers if they conclude that whoever raises their voice against the atrocities against girls-children are politicising it.
We hope whatever happened should not happen in Maharashtra. We should strongly condemn it." Baramati MP and NCP (SCP) working president Supriya Sule said the fear of law among the criminals has diminished in the state.
"We have witnessed the involvement of police in swapping blood samples of people accused in crime. We have also seen police helping drug racketeers to escape from their custody. If the Mahayuti govt cannot ensure safety, the MVA will take the responsibility of making the state safer," she said.
Last week, two four-year-old girls were sexually abused at Badlapur. Their parents complained to the school authorities, but no action was taken. Subsequently, the parents of the girls approached the Badlapur police station to lodge a case around noon on August 16, but were made to wait for 12 hours.
Later, the police registered the FIR and arrested the accused. CM Eknath Shinde assured that the accused would be tried in a fast-track court and that protest at railway station was politically motivated. (With inputs from Pune).
