Man assaulted and arrested in Palghar over alleged insult to Shivaji Maharaj

A man was allegedly assaulted by residents and later arrested by the police in Maharashtrarsquos Palghar district after he reportedly made offensive remarks about the revered Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj during a heated online exchange The incident took place in the Vijay Nagar locality of Nalasopara East and has sparked widespread discussions on social media with videos of the assault now circulating widely according to PTIThe individual identified as Akshaydeep Bharatkumar Visawadiya is said to have posted objectionable comments in a WhatsApp group that was reportedly discussing issues around Gujarati and Marathi identity The remarks were deemed disrespectful to Shivaji Maharaj prompting an angry reaction from members of the groupFollowing the controversial exchange a group of residents from the housing society in Vijay Nagar allegedly confronted Visawadiya The confrontation escalated into physical violence with the man being assaulted before being handed over to the local police officials said A police spokesperson stated that the matter was serious in nature due to the involvement of sentiments linked to a historical figure of immense importance to the state of MaharashtraThe police have since registered a First Information Report FIR against Visawadiya He has been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS specifically Section 299 which pertains to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings Section 3562 which relates to defamation and Section 352 dealing with intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peaceDomestic violence assault among most reported crimes to NCWThe National Commission for Women NCW received 7698 complaints this year with domestic violence assault and criminal intimidation the most common grievances across IndiaDomestic violence topped the chart with a total of 1594 complaints filed since the beginning of the yearThe total comprised 367 cases in January 390 in February 513 in March 322 in April and two in May The category alone accounted for nearly 20 per cent of all complaints according to official dataClosely following were complaints of criminal intimidation which saw 989 cases over the three months 268 in January 260 in February 288 in March 170 in April and three in May Assault was the third most commonly reported issue with 950 complaints 249 in January 239 in February and 278 in March 183 in April and one in MayOther significant categories included dowry harassment with 916 complaints rape and attempt to rape with 394 and molestation or outraging the modesty of women with 310 complaintsSexual harassment drew 302 complaints while cybercrimes against women accounted for 110 cases Though less frequent categories like bigamy sexual harassment at the workplace and stalking were also reportedUttar Pradesh accounted for the highest number of complaints logging 3921 cases in the first quarter iquest 952 in January 841 in February 957 in March 1087 in April and 84 in MayThis figure represents more than 50 per cent of all nationwide complaintsDelhi followed with 688 complaints 146 in January 172 in February 184 in March 183 in April and three in May while Maharashtra logged 473 complaintsOther states with high numbers included Madhya Pradesh Bihar and Haryana which registered 351 342 and 306 complaintsOfficials said the high number may be because of an increasing awareness among women about their rights and ways to reach out to authoritiesA spike was noted in April 2025 when the commission received 2123 complaints higher than any month in the first quarterA portion of complaints 881 were still listed as Not Categorised yetLast year a total of 25743 complaints were received on the NCW portal and complaints under categories of right to live with dignity domestic violence and dowry harassment were the most common complaints received on the portalWith inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params