Sanjay Raut ridicules allegations of favoring senior Mumbai police officer Paraskar in 'Saamna'

Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut on Monday rejected suggestions and allegations that his party or its mouthpiece 'Saamna' has been extending support to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Sunil Paraskar in connection with an alleged rape charge.

Raut criticised the media for misunderstanding the article.

"Shiv Sena has not supported DIG Paraskar. The media has taken out a wrong meaning of the article published in 'Saamna'," said Raut.

"The debate on rape should happen because whoever is accused of rape his career, family everything suffers, this is what we had said and many such cases have happened in Mumbai. Its not the matter of favoring or supporting someone but of technicality for which proper investigation should be done and then the truth should be brought forward in any case," he added.

He also said that the Shiv Sena respects women and feels ashamed after hearing of rape cases but at times when the accused is proved innocent after years of investigation then nobody takes the responsibility of the trauma that he went through. Therefore in such cases the entire investigation should be carried out with utmost safety.

Earlier, an article in 'Saamna' backing DIG Sunil Paraskar, accused by a Mumbai based model of raping her, sparked controversy as it said, 'today has it become a fashion to level rape charges? This question is now in people's minds.'

The article also said, 'New laws were made after the shameful 'Nirbhaya' incident, but did rape cases decrease?'

It added, 'Cases of sensationalizing through accusations of eve-teasing and rape have increased.'

The editorial fueled criticism for the Shiv Sena from various other party leaders and women rights activists demanding apology from party Chief Uddhav Thackeray.