‘Use MCOCA against Dalit attackers’

The government should be dissolved because of the atrocities on Dalits, the NCP said in the legislative council on Tuesday.

Ram Padangale of the NCP moved a calling attention motion saying the people accused of stripping and beating up a Dalit woman in Reay Road should be tried under MCOCA.

DNA was the first to report the incident on June 24. The police had arrested 12 people, including 10 women.

“The government portrays that it supports the Dalits,” Padangale said. “I doubt if they really do that. The government is insensitive towards the Dalits. It is a shame that such an incident happened in a city like Mumbai. The accused should be tried under MCOCA.”

Ramesh Bagwe, minister of state for home, said, “I too come from a Dalit family. But I don’t agree with Padangale. The 13 arrested have been charged under various sections, including the atrocities act. Only one of them succeeded in getting bail. We have provided the woman with 24-hour security so that she is not harassed.”