In a surprising statement, Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party, revealed that a significant number of women and girls have gone missing in Maharashtra over the past year. This raises serious concerns about the state's law and order situation.
Pawar emphasized that since the new government, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, came into power, the issue of attacks on women and girls has become a major worry that continues to escalate.
“It has been one year since this new government (of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis) came to power in Maharashtra. The state is facing many issues, but law and order is at the top. Attacks on women and girls are the biggest concern and are increasing day by day everywhere,” Pawar said.
Citing official figures collected from various municipal corporations, police commissioners, and rural police headquarters, he stated that over 6,889 women and girls have been missing in the past year, from May 2022 to May 2023. Sharing specific details, Pawar mentioned that in the first half of 2023, between January 23 and May 23, a total of 2,458 girls and women have mysteriously vanished in four major municipalities of the state.
Among them, 738 women/girls were reported missing from Mumbai, 937 from Pune, 721 from Thane, and 62 from Solapur. However, information regarding missing women/girls from the remaining 10 civic corporations was unavailable. According to data obtained from local police, a total of 4,431 females have disappeared from 14 districts in the state, including Amravati, Beed, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gondia, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Nanded, Pune, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Washim.
In the past year, from May 2022 to May 2023, an alarming number of 6,889 women and girls have disappeared in the state without any information about their whereabouts, as revealed by Pawar. Expressing concern, Pawar emphasized the gravity of the situation and urged the state Home Minister to take proactive measures to ensure the safety of our daughters and sisters, rather than merely issuing statements.