Maha Vikas Aghadi government dismisses reports of girls stripped and forced to dance in Jalgaon

A day after the Jalgaon incident rocked the Maharashtra Legislature, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government on Thursday dismissed reports that say girls of a hostel in Jalgaon were stripped and made to dance by calling them false.

A probe was conducted, and after that State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur and Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Gulabrao Patil, who is the Guardian Minister of Jalgaon, asserted in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly that no such incident had happened and it was raised on the basis of a false report that appeared in a newspaper.

On Wednesday, the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and senior BJP MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar targeted the MVA government and stated that on March 1, at the government-run Ashadeep Hospital in the Ganesh Nagar area of Jalgaon, the girls were made to strip and dance by a group of people.

Read: Girls stripped, forced to dance by police; Maharashtra govt orders probe

After the incident, a local NGO Jananayak Foundation lodged a complaint. Following the allegations, the government immediately announced a probe.

Deshmukh said that the initial probe report is available. “Six lady officers have investigated the matter. There are 17 women inmates. Statements of 41 witnesses were recorded. It was found that there is no truth in the allegations. No male police officer was present. It is a women's hostel and policemen are not allowed inside,” he said, adding that the entry registers were also checked.

Deshmukh also said that the woman complainant is mentally unstable."Her husband and other family members have complained about her mental condition. On February 20, an entertainment programme was organised for the inmates in which no male police officer was present. The programme included poetry recital, singing and dance,” he said.

"During the 'garba' dance, a woman who was wearing a long ‘ghagra’ removed it as she was feeling uncomfortable," he said.

Yashomati Thakur said, "Due to such allegations, destitute women leave the hostel and later they face a lot of trouble from the society. We have to be very careful while making allegations.”

Patil said that he himself had spoken to Jalgaon’s Collector and Superintendent of Police and confirmed no such incident had taken place.

“The name of the district and the department running the hostel got tarnished,” he said.

Congress MLA and former Speaker Nana Patole said the state's image was maligned due to such allegations.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said whenever allegations are made, they should first be verified. “Any incident against women is serious. However, as public representatives, we need to verify and cross-check at our end,” he added.