In shocking visuals posted on social media, a pregnant forest ranger was grabbed by her hair, pushed to the ground, and kicked allegedly by a former sarpanch and his wife in Maharashtra’s Satara district on Thursday, 20 January.
Responding to the video, Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray stated on Twitter, "The accused has been arrested this morning and will face the law at its strictest. Such acts will not be tolerated.”
According to a report by NDTV, Ramchandra Gangaram Jankar – the sarpanch of Palsavade – and his wife Pratibha Jankar, have since been arrested. The incident was filmed on the forest ranger’s husband's phone, who, according to the NDTV, was also assaulted by the duo.
Jankar was reportedly upset that the woman forest ranger put one labourer to work on another site without informing him and confronted the forest ranger on Monday as well regarding the same.
The woman ranger, according to the NDTV report, is three months pregnant. In one of the visuals captured on social media, the former sarpanch is seen hitting the forest ranger and her husband with a slipper.
Both Jankar and his wife have been arrested and a case has been registered against them under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, reported NDTV.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)