Act swiftly in cases of atrocities against women: Thackeray

Taking cognisance of the recent cases of atrocities against women in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered the home department to take immediate and stern action against the perpetrators.

An official statement issued on Wednesday also quoted Thackeray as saying that women safety is the "topmost" priority of his government.

Those from the police department found to be derelict in duty will not be spared, he warned.

The chief minister's order comes in the wake of setting ablaze of a female college lecturer by a stalker in Wardha's Hinganghat area on Monday.

In another gruesome incident, a Dalit woman was set afire by a man in a village in Aurangabad district on Sunday midnight.

"The government will stand behind women and provide them necessary legal protection and assistance to ensure their cases are presented before the court with all the evidences after immediate registration of FIR and speedy probe," the statement said.

The chief minister asked the home department, handled by his alliance partner NCP, to check feasibility of setting up all-woman police stations in each of the district so that women can register complaints about atrocities against them without hesitation.

He said the government has prioritised setting up of fast-track and special courts to see perpetrators in such cases are punished at the earliest, according to the statement.

Thackeray also pitched for empowering the state women's commission, it said.