Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced a special investigation team (SIT), headed by a senior woman officer, to probe the alleged sexual harassment of a minor girl at a coaching class in Beed.
As reported by PTI, NCP legislator Chetan Tupe has also raised the issue through a point of information in the state assembly. Tupe, while concerned about the incident, said that two people had been arrested and remanded to three-day police custody. He said the person protecting the accused needs to be unmasked.
Chetan Tupe, in the ongoing Maharashtra Monsoon assembly session, asked, “Who is protecting the accused?”
However, responding to Tupe`s demand, Fadnavis stated that those trying to shield the accused will not be spared.
The Chief Minister said that “the SIT will probe the case in a time-bound manner, and the guilty will be punished,” adding that a woman officer will be heading the probe team.
The 17-year-old victim was attending a renowned private coaching class in Beed for her academics. In July 2024, one of the teachers from the institute called her to his room after the class ended. After calling her inside the room, he sexually assaulted her.
The student reported this incident to another senior teacher about this and sought his help. However, instead of stopping his fellow colleague, the senior teacher of the institute himself sexually assaulted the student in his room. This horrific act of inhumanity by both the accused continued till May 2025, starting from July 2024.
However, soon after the student’s complaint, the issue took a political turn, with former Maharashtra minister and NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde on Monday alleging that one of the two persons arrested in the case was linked to NCP (SP) MLA Sandip Kshirsagar. The latter denied the allegations.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Munde also said he had previously faced a media trial in cases even though he was not involved in them.
“I have been in public life for 25 years and have never made a false allegation. The truth will come out in due course. People just need to wait,” he added.
Responding to the allegations, Kshirsagar, the NCP (SP) MLA from Beed and a known critic of Munde, said the matter is being handled transparently.
“As Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is the guardian minister for Beed, the survivor approached the police station, and a complaint was registered promptly. The police have collected all the necessary CCTV footage. The investigation will reveal the facts,” he said.
Responding to Munde, Kshirsagar claimed that if Munde had been the guardian minister, the complaint of the girl would not have been registered so easily.
(With PTI Inputs)
