Bandra East MLA Prakash Bala Sawant's threat of stripping and thrashing a woman was allegedly prompted by their previous disagreements over the redevelopment of their society
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| Sawant (64) and the woman are both residents of Gandhi Nagar Society in Kherwadi, Bandra (East) |
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For all their talk about the need for making women feel safe and safeguarding women’s rights, comments made by politicians and their behaviour in public has, time and again, exposed their true colours.
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Following in the far-from-hallowed footsteps of netas such as Mulayam Singh Yadav, Abu Azmi and Tapas Pal (see box), Shiv Sena’s Bandra (East) MLA Prakash Bala Sawant allegedly said to a woman in her 50s, “I will strip you in front of everyone and beat you up”.
The woman and Bala have been sparring over the redevelopment of the Bandra housing society they reside in, but this outburst allegedly came without provocation.
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Sawant (64) and the woman are both residents of Gandhi Nagar Society in Kherwadi, Bandra (East). Senior police officials of the Kherwadi police station, where an FIR was filed by the woman, said the incident took place around 8 pm on Monday.
According to the woman’s statement in the FIR, she had got down from a bus and was heading home when Sawant abused her because of the previous animosity between them.
“I will strip you in front of everyone and beat you up,” Sawant allegedly told her. This prompted an argument, after which the woman rushed to the Kherwadi police to file a complaint.
High drama followed at the police station after the complaint was filed and Sawant was called in for his statement. When news of the FIR spread, hundreds of Sena supporters descended on the police station to agitate. A large contingent of police officers had to be called in to control the crowd, which they did with much difficulty.
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Animosity
The cops said there are a total of 36 Housing Board buildings in Gandhi Nagar Society. The redevelopment process has been on for several years and has led to the formation of several groups. Both the woman and Sawant are committee members and have had several disagreements about which builder should be selected for the redevelopment.
The victim told cops that the disagreements do not, however, give anyone the right to insult and use such language against a woman.
She said the fact that the statement was made publicly and by an MLA, no less, only made it worse.
Booked: An FIR was filed by the woman after the incident that took place around 8 pm on Monday. File Pic
“Based on complaint of the woman, who is in her 50s, we have registered a case against Sawant under Sections 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of trust), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and 509 (Act intended to insult modesty of a woman) of the IPC. We have taken an FIR and the statements of the complainant and Sawant are being recorded. Only after proper investigation will we consider making an arrest.”
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