FIR against BJP’s Pravin Darekar for saying NCP “kisses painted cheeks”

Pune police have registered a FIR against BJP leader Pravin Darekar as he said that the NCP kisses painted cheeks and has no time for the poor. His statement came days before well-known laavni dancer Surekha Punekar was set to join the NCP

PUNE: The Pune police have registered a case against Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Pravin Darekar for his statement against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) during a rally in Shirur about a week ago. Darekar said that the NCP kisses painted cheeks and has no time for the poor. His statement came days before well-known laavni dancer Surekha Punekar was set to join the NCP. A case has been registered against Darekar under section 509 (insult to a woman’s modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Sinhagad road police station.

FIR has been registered against Pravin Darekar under section 509 (insult to a woman’s modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Sinhagad road police station (Hindustan Times)

In a video posted on her Twitter handle, Rupali Chakankar, president of the Nationalist Mahila Congress Party, the women’s wing of the NCP, said, “Opposition party leader Darekar made highly perverted statements in Shirur. He made these remarks insulting women’s modesty while speaking at a public rally. Since that day, many women have expressed their anger towards his statement. He should have shown some shame and apologised but he said instead that he does not give much importance to such things. Projecting women as second-class citizens and insulting them and then reacting in this manner to criticism is a sign of intellectual turpitude. Therefore, I have registered a case against him at Sinhagad road police station.”

Reacting to this, Jagdish Mulik of the BJP pointed out some controversial statements made earlier by Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and how the police refused to register a case against him even after a complaint was lodged. A statement made by Mulik in this regard issued by the BJP read, “BJP state chief Chandrakant Patil was referred to in a series of statements invoking violence made by Sanjay Raut on September 4. The city BJP unit on September 6 demanded that a case be registered against Raut. However today, police inspector Sanjay Mogale of Deccan police station sent a written letter as per which, Raut’s statements were not foul and not directed at any specific person.”

While the outcome of the case registered against Darekar remains to be seen, the sexism in his comment can hardly be ignored.