Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council, Dhananjay Munde today accused media of "ignoring" the brutal gangrape-cum-murder of a minor girl in Ahmednagar district even though the 'rape' analogy of Bollywood actor Salman Khan hogged the limelight.
"Media ignored the incident for the first two to three days and gave it no coverage. If Salman Khan says something on rape, it immediately becomes breaking news. But, this girl was not as famous as Salman. Which may be (the reason) why the media initially did not give coverage to it (the incident)," he said in the Upper House during a debate on the Kopardi gangrape-cum-murder incident.
A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by three men at Kopardi village in Karjat taluka in Ahmednagar district last week. The incident had sparked a massive outrage.
Munde said like the media, none of the elected representatives from the region, including ministers, besides police officers or district collector spoke a word on the incident for the first two days.
BJP minister Ram Shinde represents Karjat-Jamkhed Assembly constituency in Ahmednagar district as an MLA.
Munde also attacked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for not visiting the family of the deceased.
"When we mistakenly showed a cabinet minister's photo with a person who we thought was an accused, the CM was quick to rebut us with the correct picture of the accused. If he had shown same swiftness in visiting the family of the victim, he would have been appreciated," the NCP leader said.
Munde challenged the government to complete the trial in the case within four months and to ensure that the accused get capital punishment.
"Only then will we believe that you (the BJP) have the courage to run this government," he said.
Fadnavis had yesterday told the Legislative Assembly that the case will be heard in a fast track court.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Narayan Rane, who also took part in the discussion, said that by showing the pictures of the accused, Fadnavis has violated the provisions of the Evidence Act.
"How can the CM show the photos of the accused in a media
briefing? It can have a disastrous impact on the court case against the accused. Tomorrow they might allege violation of the provisions of Evidence Act to secure bail. The whole case will be dissolved then," he said.
Rane said the CM "did not understand" the Home portfolio as a result of which the "law and order situation remains collapsed in the state."
"Most cases of hooliganism happen in Nagpur (Fadnavis' constituency). If he cannot save Nagpur, how will the CM save Maharashtra? Today, if a survey is done on parties having maximum number of criminals, BJP will top the list," the Congress leader said.
Continuing his diatribe, Rane added, "tomorrow even (underworld don) Dawood Ibrahim may surrender, join BJP and may become a minister. Who knows this might happen anytime because the party has become infamous for taking in criminals," he added.
