A video clip showing a youth and his female partner being beaten and verbally abused by a group of men in Jalna district has evoked strong condemnation from Maharashtra’s political spectrum, while prompting the police to launch a hunt to nab the miscreants.
By late Friday evening the police said it had caught at least four people, including a minor.
The video, which had gone viral a few days ago, shows the young woman and her male partner being assaulted, manhandled and humiliated at an isolated location by a group of youths, one of whom filmed the entire proceedings.
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One of the miscreants, apparently a self-appointed vigilante, is seen clutching the girl’s tie as the boy tearfully pleads with them to let her go and says they had not done anything wrong.
Ignoring him, one of them is seen dragging the girl away before the clip ends, triggering suspicion among authorities that the she may have been molested.
“We are verifying the location of the incident and trying to ascertain the motives of the miscreants. Two police teams have been formed. We have taken one minor into custody while hunt is on for the others,” said S. Chaitanya, Jalna Superintendent of Police.
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Condemning the incident, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted: “I urge the police to investigate the incident and have ordered the immediate removal of the viral video from social media platforms.”
Expressing concern that the girl may have been molested, BJP leader Chitra Wagh said, “It is utterly shameful. This video evokes a strong rage within oneself. I pray nothing terrible has happened to the girl.”
Likewise, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal warned of stern action against the miscreants while senior BJP leader and Jalna MP Raosaheb Danve said the police should take the matter seriously and bring the offenders to book.