Pandharpur, Aug 29 (IANS): BJP MLC and former Maharashtra Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde on Thursday slammed the opposition parties for "playing politics" over the sexual abuse of two four-year-old girls in a school in Badlapur.
"Had the BJP been in the opposition, it would not have politicised the Badlapur sexual abuse," she said.
She further added, "Earlier Nirbhaya happened, now Badlapur... Such incidents have happened from time to time. Therefore, there was no need to politicise this issue."’
"The last decade saw brutal incidents of women's oppression. From Nirbhaya to Badlapur, atrocities are increasing against women. Different people have played roles in this from time to time over the decades. This incident should be treated as a social incident rather than playing politics. If we were in the opposition, we would not have politicised such an incident," said Munde.
She said that the accused in such cases of sexual abuse should be brought to justice and severely punished.
Munde's statement came after the opposition accused the MahaYuti government of shielding the school management and allegedly asking the police to take strong action against the protesters who staged 'rail roko' in Badlapur last week.
The opposition has demanded capital punishment for the accused and implementation of the Shakti Act, which was passed during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Recently, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi claimed that a big "cover-up" was done by the school administration and the Mahayuti government was "complicit" in the crime as it was "shielding" the perpetrators, rather than bringing them to book.
Meanwhile, former union minister and BJP veteran leader Raosaheb Danve also targeted the opposition for politicising the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at Rajkot Fort in Malvan from Sindhudurg district.
"The contractor should have taken adequate care during the statue's installation, but that was not done. This is an unfortunate incident. Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar has already apologised. The opposition should not play politics on this issue," said Danve.
He demanded that the state government should conduct an audit of statues across Maharashtra.