Maratha Kranti Morcha: A rape incident had triggered Marathas' 'silent protest'

Mumbai: A sea of Maratha protesters thronged the streets of Mumbai on Wednesday, bringing the traffic in the Maharashtra capital to a standstill.

The politically powerful community came together to seek reservation in education and government jobs, an amendment in SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act) to stop its misuse, guaranteed rate for agricultural produce, and loan waiver to farmers to curb suicides.

However, one incident that triggered the Maratha unrest a year ago was a rape and murder case in Kopardi. Punishment for culprits in the case is also a major demand of the community.

What is Kopardi rape and murder case?

A 15-year-old girl was raped on July 13, 2016, at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district, flaring up Maratha-Dalit tensions. The victim had injuries all the body.

On July 14, 2016, the Ahmadnagar Police arrested three men belonging to a Dalit community from Kopardi.

The three accused in the case reportedly broke the girl's limbs before throttling her.

The Kopardi incident proved to be the trigger for the silent marches (mook morchas) taken out by the Marathas across the state as the victim belonged to the community, while the culprits were Dalits.

Marathas are demanding the death penalty for the suspects. Political parties and Maratha organisations have also supported this demand.

The Marathas, who launched a series of massive silent marches beginning on August 09, also added two other demands. One, 16 percent reservation for Marathas in government-aided and run educational institutions and jobs. Two, an amendment in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act to prevent its alleged misuse by Dalits and tribals to frame Marathas in fake cases.

The official 'mook morcha' (silent procession), which took off from the Byculla Zoo and onto the Azad Maidan on Tuesday, witnessed lakhs of people from the politically powerful community marching peacefully and silently but making a loud political statement for the ruling establishment.

It was the community's 58th protest in a year.

While the majority were on foot, there were some adventurous Marathas who came on bicycles and some others riding horses, a few even dressed like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj -- the idol of all Maharashtrians, grabbing the attention of the media crews positioned strategically across south Mumbai.