Rally demands justice for rape victim

NASHIK: Braving heavy rainfall that saw waterlogging across major roads on Thursday, people from the Banjara Community along with those from the Scheduled Castes marched to the office of the divisional revenue commissioner demanding justice for a five-year-old girl from the community, who was allegedly raped by a person allegedly from Maratha community at Nandur Naka.
The Akrosh Morcha that was to start at 11am from Nandur Naka started at around 1pm and reached the office of the divisional revenue commissioner at around 3pm.
Though disciplined on the streets, the agitators lost all control once they reached the office. The women even jumped barricades set up by the police. The morcha comprising members of Banjara Kranti Dal, Rashtriya Banjara Tigers, Vishwa Gaur Banjara Samaj Seva Sangh, All India Banjara Sangh, Nomadics and De-notified Tribes Women Front, Other Backward Class people, along with People's Republican Party meet revenue commissioner Eknath Dawle.
People's Republican Party national president Joginder Kawade, who also led the morcha of Banjara community and others on Nashik revenue commissioner's office, squarely blamed Sharad Pawar for raising the issue of scrapping atrocity cover for the people of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
"The demand for the reservation for the Maratha community is not a recent one. It was raised in 1979. But the demand for removal of atrocity cover has come up only recently," Kawade said addressing the press at Nashik Road.
Prof Kawade added that the Maratha community was "unable to digest the fact that it had to stay away from power and hence it was trying to encash on the Kopardi incident in which a minor girl was brutally raped and killed."
The demand for the reservation for the Maratha community is not a recent one. It was raised in 1979. But the demand for removal of atrocity cover has come up only recently. The Maratha community is unable to digest that it had to stay away from power