Sena defends 'Saamana' edit on IPS officer accused of rape

They said that the party was being defamed without understanding its stance on the issue

The Shiv Sena today defended the controversial editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' about rape accused IPS officer Sunil Paraskar, saying the party was being defamed without understanding its stance on the issue.

"We agree that rape is heinous but it is also equally reprehensible to make (baseless) allegations of rape," an editorial in 'Saamana' said.

"What we have said is clear, the rape victim should lodge the complaint immediately. If complaint is lodged after six months or a year, the medical evidence in such cases is invalid and the case assumes a different colour," the editorial said.

Claiming that the controversial Marathi editorial was distorted in translation, 'Saamana' said, "now, it is just a one-sided attack by those who don't want to understand what someone said or wrote."

"Some TV news channels and print journalists are now 'raping' journalism and neither the Press Council nor the courts can curb this," the editorial said.

"There is no reason for controversy on our view that there should be no media trial in rape case while the matter is in court and police investigation is in progress," the editorial said.

"Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and NCP president Sharad Pawar faced such media trials," it said.

The Sena mouthpiece also mentioned rape allegations against Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar, where he was acquitted of rape charge after a model filed a case against him. "He was saved as he had a letter from the complainant warning him that she will file rape charges if he does not give her a job in films," it said.