Hardly a day passes when we do not hear about cases of molestation and sexual assault. No matter which party is in power, the issue of woman safety mostly remains on paper. Days after a CCTV footage showing a former BJP leader from Maharashtra forcibly kissing a women in a moving bus went viral on social media, the state police arrested 48 year old Ravindra Bawanthade from Gadchiroli in connection with the case.
The incident took place on June 27 but the woman approached the police on July 2 when a video clip purportedly showing the leader making sexual advances towards her went viral in the region, the police said. Bawanthade was a former member of BJP and teaches at a private school, was arrested by Nagbhid police of Gadchiroli yesterday following a complaint by the victim.
According to Nagbhid police station in-charge B D Madavi, the incident was captured by the CCTV camera inside the private luxury bus, when the two were returning to Gadchiroli from Nagpur. In her complaint, the woman has alleged that Bawanthade took her to Nagpur after promising her a job and sexually assaulted her inside the bus on return. The victim is a former student of the school where Bawanthade is a teacher. The accused was produced before a local court yesterday which remanded him in two-day police custody, the police said. Two bus conductors and the driver of the bus found that a CCTV camera on the bus had captured the incident. They recorded a video of the clip on their phones and circulated on social media.
Earlier it was reported that Bawanthade is a member of the saffron party but he was removed from party 4-5 months ago for being insincere and inactive.
BJP MP from the Chimur-Gadchiroli constituency Ashok Nete told PTI that Bawanthade was removed from the party 4-5 months ago as he was “inactive and not sincere in working for the party”. “Bawanthade is no more with the BJP,” he said.
Notedly, Bawanthade was the party in-charge of Armori Assembly constituency during 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Hindustan Times reported.
PTI inputs
