Case registered after minister's picture holding woman's hand goes viral

Pune: Police on Friday registered a case against an unidentified person for allegedly clicking a picture of Maharashtra Civil Supplies Minister and BJP leader Girish Bapat holding hand of a woman party worker and circulating it on social media.

The photo was clicked on Thursday by an unidentified person during a party programme at Wagholi, 25 km from Pune, where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present. Subsequently, the photo went viral on social media, accompanied with derogatory remarks.

The woman seen in the photo in her statement to the police stated that Bapat is like a father figure to her and that he had held her hand to bring her in front in order to introduce her to the Chief Minister.

"However, some people with ill-intention, clicked the photo and made it viral on social media by circling (the duo) holding hands and maligned her character," she said in her statement to Loni Kalbhor Police.

After the photo went viral, a lot of objectionable comments were posted, which prompted the 34-year-old woman to approach police and register the case. The station duty officer of the police station said today that they have registered a case against unidentified persons.

When contacted, Bapat's secretary called it a mischievous act by some people with an ill-intention, saying that the woman's father is a very good friend of Mr Bapat and Mr Bapat is like a father figure to her.