Dalit teen's murder: Maha Speaker asks Govt to make statement

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde today asked the government to make a statement on the murder of a Dalit teenage boy in Navi Mumbai, allegedly over an inter-caste relationship.
Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who sought to raise the issue in the assembly through an adjournment notice, alleged police officials insulted family members of the deceased, after they went to lodge a complaint at the police station.
Seven people, including the girl's relatives and their friends, have been arrested in connection with the murder by Nerul police.
Police said the victim, 15-year-old Swapnil Sonawane, was killed because the girl's family did not approve of him as he belonged to a different caste.

The boy was allegedly beaten to death on Tuesday night by the family of a 15-year-old girl he was in a relationship with. He was killed because the girl's family did not approve of him as he belonged to a different caste.
The girl, who has also been listed as an accused, has been sent to a children's home in Bhiwandi.

"The police officer who at first did not register the crime, under pressure, should be sacked," Vikhe Patil said.
The Speaker did not admit the adjournment notice and declined to allow a debate on the issue. However, he directed that the state government make a statement on the issue.

According Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, two officers of Nerul police station have been placed under suspension against whom there are allegations that they refused to register the complaint of the boy's family.