‘Home minister RR Patil made false promises’

The family of 15-year-old Shubham Shirke, who was murdered by his friends on March 31, has alleged that state home minister RR Patil did not fulfill his promises made during his visit to the family in April. Speaking to DNA, Shubham’s father Mahadev pointed out that the state government had not kept its promise of speeding up the case and appointing Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor.

Mahadev said, “Patil had promised to handover the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and appoint special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam to conduct the court proceedings. Now, the chargesheet has been filed and it’s clear that these were false promises.”

After Shubham’s death, the Shirke family shifted to Wadgaonsheri. “We changed our home for security reasons, and now I am scared for my younger son, who is only four,” Mahadev added.
An irate Mahadev said, “All the political leaders visited us to get publicity. They promised us that they would amend the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act in the monsoon session. However, there has been no action in this regard. The government should learn a lesson from the Anuj Bidve murder case, which took place in London. The London court convicted the murderer within seven months of the trial.”