‘If such things happen to a min’s daughter, imagine what common people have to
go through’
Jalgaon, March 2: 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 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.” (PTI)
