The Opposition parties in Maharashtra criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government for the “deteriorating law and order situation in the state” after Union minister Raksha Khadse filed a police complaint on Sunday alleging that her daughter had been harassed in Jalgaon district.

Two persons have been arrested and a minor was detained in relation to the case, Jalgaon Superintendent of Police Maheswar Reddy told The Indian Express.

A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Information Technology Act. The police said that they were searching for other persons accused in the matter.

Khadse, the Union minister of state for youth affairs and sports and a BJP leader, told reporters that her daughter, a minor, was harassed when she went to a fair on Friday.

The Union minister said she was in Gujarat at the time of the alleged incident and had asked her daughter and her friends to be accompanied by a security guard.

“The youths first misbehaved with the girls, took their pictures and made inappropriate remarks,” Khadse alleged. “When the guard intervened, the youths misbehaved with him. Nearly 40 other youths turned up at the spot…”

Khadse said that her daughter “appeared scared to even talk about” the incident.

She added: “The incident is very sensitive… Every parent should come forward and lodge a complaint, otherwise such goons will get emboldened to repeat their act… If this can happen to the daughter of an MP and minister, imagine what ordinary people go through.”

Raksha Khadse is the daughter of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader and former state minister Eknath Khadse, who quit the BJP in 2020.

Opposition criticises BJP government

The Opposition has criticised the BJP-led government, alleging that the state had become unsafe for women.

Eknath Khadse claimed that the police had “received several complaints against these youths in the past”.

“In Maharashtra, crime against women has increased,” the newspaper quoted Eknath Khadse as saying. Criminals are not afraid of the police. Girls don’t come forward to lodge complaints. Parents believe that the names of their daughters should not be disclosed. We complained as we had no option left.”

Supriya Sule, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), said that the incident showed “how bad the law and order situation in the state has become”.

Vijay Wadettiwar, the leader of Congress’ legislature party in Maharashtra, said that the daughter of a Union minister being harassed “despite police security” was the “reality of Maharashtra”.

Wadettiwar also said that ministers “now need to personally intervene” at police stations to ensure action was taken in such matters. “We have been saying for a long time that criminals no longer fear the police because they receive political protection from the Mahayuti government,” he said.

The Mahayuti coalition comprises the BJP, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena and the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led group of the Nationalist Congress Party.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home affairs portfolio, said that “strict action” will be taken in the matter.

Fadnavis also claimed that some of the persons accused in the matter had political ties. However, he did not provide further details. “Unfortunately, office-bearers of a particular party are involved in this crime,” he said.

The Jalgaon superintendent of police told The Indian Express that he had “no information about which party” the persons allegedly were a part of.