Mumbai, March 4 The Maharashtra Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party was left red-faced after a probe revealed that the alleged incident of cops forcing women to 'dance naked' in a Jalgaon hostel was found to be false, here on Thursday.
After the inquiry by a 6-member women's panel, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Women & Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur and Water Supply Minister Gulabrao Patil - who is Jalgaon Guardian Minister - informed the Maharashtra Assembly that "no such incident" ever happened there.
The House was shocked and rocked on Wednesday after a BJP MLA Shweta Mahale raised the issue and was supported by Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, senior leader Sudhir Mungantiwar and others.
After noisy scenes, the Home Minister ordered a probe into the purported incident that took place in the government-run Ashadeep Hostel, and said its report would be submitted within 48 hours.
"The initial probe report is available It was investigated by 6 women officers. There are 17 women inmates and statements of 41 witnesses have been recorded. The entry register was scrutinized. It is found that there is no truth in the allegations. No male police official was present, it's a women's hostel and policemen are not permitted inside," Deshmukh said.
Deshmukh added that a woman who reportedly made the complaint was 'mentally unstable' and her husband and family members have complained about her medical condition.
The minister said that on February 20, a cultural-entertainment programme was organized for the hostelites in which no male police officials were present, and during the 'garba' dance, one woman had discarded her long 'ghaghra' as she was feeling uncomfortable.
"Due to such allegations, when these destitute women leave the hostel, they face lot of troubles from the society. We must be very careful before levelling such charges," Thakur urged.
Patil said he personally with the district Collector and Superintendent of Police and confirmed that no such incident was reported, but it ended up tarnishing the name of the hostel and the district.
Congress state President Nana Patole rued that the incident maligned the image of the state while Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said before such allegations are hurled, they need to be verified.
"Any incident against women is serious However, as peoples' representatives we must verify and cross-check at our end also," Pawar urged.
BJP member Mahale had contended that some police personnel reportedly went to the hostel for some enquiries, but when the women inmates failed to cooperate with them, they allegedly forced them to strip naked and dance.
Slamming the government for the 'shameful' incident, Fadnavis said that a purported video-clip showed the police making the girls dance nude and demanded a thorough investigation.
They said the alleged incident came to the fore after a local NGO Jananayak Foundation brought it to the notice of Jalgaon Collector Abhijit Rao and sought a probe.
