A week after two women were molested outside JW Marriott hotel in Juhu on New Year — an incident which triggered a nationwide outrage after it was captured on camera by two HT photographers — the home department, headed by Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil, is pushing to make molestation a non-bailable offence.
The state government will forward the home department’s proposal to the Centre later this week. “This issue has been on my mind for some time and we even got the proposal cleared a month back,” Patil told HT. “Now, we will ensure it is forwarded to the Centre for speedy clearance.” Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule, who called on Patil seeking stern action in the molestation case, said the move was commendable.
Now, Raj blames ‘outsiders’
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has also blamed “outsiders’ for the Juhu molestation. “These boys (the accused) are from good families. They tried to rescue women in distress.