Marathas hold morcha in protest of rape

A massive morcha was staged by all Maratha organisations in Jalgaon on Monday, who have demanded the death penalty for those involved in the rape and murder of a minor girl in Khopardi village of Ahmednagar district. The morcha was so huge that when it reached the collector’s office, the other end was still at Jalgaon college from where the morcha started, about 3km away. Thousands of women in large numbers participated in this ‘muk’ (silent) morcha.

The morcha began at 2 pm and wound its way through Shivaji Chowk, Nehru Chowk and the bus station towards the collector’s office. The morcha was organised by the entire Maratha community including Maratha Seva Sangh’s (MSS) wings like the Jijao Brigade, Sambhaji Brigade, Veer Bhagat Singh Vidyarthi Parishad (VBSVP) and other organisations.

MSS senior leader Surekha Pawar said the morcha was very disciplined. “We women were wearing black sarees while others wore black bands in protest. Five girls took a copy of the memorandum and gave it to the collector, while others waited outside,” Ms Pawar said.

VBSVP state vice-president Jayashri Randive-Patil said that the number of persons who had participated in the rally could be between 100,000 to 125,000. “People spontaneously participated, for it was their daughter, who was heinously raped and murdered in Khopardi,” she said.

The agitators expressed apprehension over the increase in crimes against women. Jijao Brigade leader Madhuri Bhadane said their main demand was that the rapists should be hanged.

Meanwhile, the Maratha community has received a boost from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar. Mr Pawar, of late, has been demanding repealing the Atrocity Act to stop its misuse, and action in the Khopardi incident.

This is the third such huge morcha this month after rallies were held in Aurangabad and Osmanabad over the Khopardi incident.