Now molestation accuser says, ‘Dhote brothers innocent’

Chandrapur: The girl who had filed the molestation case that led to the arrest of former Congress MLA and president of Infant Jesus Society Subhash Dhote and his brother, society secretary Arun Dhote, has backtracked from her complaint. The girl held a press conference on Wednesday evening to say she had been lured with promise of Rs5 lakh and admission in another nursing college, and deceived into naming the Dhote brothers in her complaint.
The girl claimed that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raju Kukde, and social workers Gomati Pachbhai and Sunita Gaikwad lured her. She was in Adilabad (Telangana) at her elder sister’s house, when Sunita Gaikwad called her on phone. Gaikwad asked her to take up the eight-month-old molestation case and promised to pay Rs5 lakh for it. Enticed by the large sum, the girl came to Chandrapur and met Gaikwad, who was with Raju Kukde, Gomati Pachbhai and two others.
The girl said they convinced her to take up the old molestation case, and also tried to convince her to name the Dhote brothers, but she refused. She said in the press conference that the Dhotes had done no harm to her, instead, they had dismissed principal Gururaj Kulkarni on hearing her complaint.
The girl claims that while she stayed overnight at Kukde’s house, he prepared her printed complaint and asked her to sign it, without letting her read it. Later, they took her to the office of superintendent of police and filed the complaint.
She claimed to have realized after reading newspapers and through news channels that Subhash and Arun Dhote were arrested based on her complaint. When her parents questioned her, she admitted to have been deceived by the social worker trio into signing the papers. She admitted her mistake and said Subhash Dhote, Arun Dhote and their driver have nothing to do with her molestation.
However, Kukde told TOI on Wednesday night that the girl had come to them for help, with a written complaint. She came through her brother Hakkani Shaikh, who is MNS tehsil president of Jiwti. “We helped her approach the SP,” he said.
He also claimed that on Tuesday, after the arrest of the Dhote brothers, the girl and her mother were forcibly taken to some location by her other brother, Azgar Shaikh, and pressurized into changing her statement. He claimed to have informed the SP about the ‘abduction’ on Monday night itself. He also said Azgar is connected to the Congress party, and was present with the girl at her press conference on Wednesday with another Congress leader.
SDPO Rajura Shekhar Deshmukh said the girl has not approached them with her new version. He, however, said they were aware of her new statement in the media, and were searching for her to record her statement before they decide the course of action.
Tribals march 25km to demand arrest of Dhotes
Chandrapur: Hundreds of tribals walked 26km in the blazing summer sun from Rajura to Chandrapur to demand the arrest of Subhash and Arun Dhote under the POCSO Act in the Rajura tribal girls abuse case, on Wednesday. The tribals also demanded registration of offence under the Atrocity Act against Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar and ex-MLA Balu Dhanorkar for insulting tribal community, and sought Rs25 lakh compensation for the victim tribal girls. They later courted arrest at the police headquarters here in the evening.
The protesters, under the banner of Adivasi Sangharsh Kruti Samiti, started from the Rajura tehsil office for Chandrapur in the blazing afternoon heat. They marched shouting slogans and reached Chandrapur in the evening.
Their leader Paromita Goswami accused BJP and Congress leaders of working in connivance and turning a blind eye to the atrocities on tribals. She said neither the CM nor tribal development minister Vishnu Sawra from ruling BJP had come to meet the victim girls or their families. She claimed the tribals were fighting for their self-respect and pride.
She also lashed out at the tribal department for its failures at the tribals girls hostel, including trying to hush up the matter without filing FIR.