Social media-fuelled news of attempted rape on a five-year-old girl by a 16-year-old boy at Talegaon near Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra’s Nashik district led to angry protests at several places in the district.
The Mumbai-Nasik highway was blocked and at some places buses were vandalised.
Such was the crowd anger that Nashik’s guardian Minister, Girish Mahajan, had to rush to the spot and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to issue a statement to not believe rumours and to maintain law and order situation.
Local villagers began gathering at the police station on Saturday night, demanding immediate the arrest of the accused, said Trimbakeshwar police station-in-charge Mukund Deshmukh.
The villagers also staged ‘rasta roko’ in Wadovhare, Ghoti and Anjaneri-phata areas. Some people set tyres on fire, and also damaged a tractor in Talegaon. A group of people also protested at Nashik Civil Hospital last night and demanded that the victim be examined by a woman doctor, said Mr. Deshmukh. According to rural control room, some people staged ‘rasta rokos’ at Talwade village on Nashik-Trimbakeshwar road, Girnare village and near Mohadi on the busy Mumbai-Agra National Highway on Sunday morning.
The accused boy has been booked under IPC Section 376 (rape) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
