Condemning the sexual assault on a 20-year-old student in a moving train, Congress and NCP leaders on Thursday said the incident has raised a question mark over the competence of the home department led by deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule , and city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad and MPCC women's president Sandhya Sawwalakhe said the government has failed to take stern measures to halt the sudden spurt in cases of assault on women as the CM and DCM are busy in "advertisement politics".
"The incident should be probed at the highest level...Fadavis must fix responsibility and take stern action against erring officials," Pawar said. Alleging that the home department has ignored women's security, Sule said: "It must fast-track the case and ensure that the accused gets maximum punishment." Pointing out that the incident comes days after the rape-murder of a student in a south Mumbai hostel, Gaikwad said "security for women should not be symbolic" and sought death sentence for the accused. Sawwalakhe said: "NDA leaders are busy showing the green light for new trains, but ignore the security and safety of women...home department has collapsed... law-and-order situation in the state is on the decline."
For the unversed, An incident of harassment of a student took place in the morning hours in a local running on the harbour route of the local in Mumbai. This incident happened around 7:30 in the morning with the student while going for the exam. The victim was brutally assaulted and the accused was later nabbed by the cops after 8 hours.