2 women with baby thrashed for saying 'excuse me' instead of speaking Marathi

Thane: Two women, one of them carrying a baby in her arms, were on Tuesday, April 8, beaten up in Dombivli in the district for allegedly saying “excuse me” instead of speaking in Marathi.

As a video of the incident went viral, police said they were conducting the preliminary probe.

The incident took place in the morning when the women, who were on a two-wheeler, were entering the premises of the housing society where they lived.

When the woman who was riding the scooter said “excuse me” to a young man who was obstructing the entrance, he allegedly took offence, demanding that she speak in Marathi, she claimed.

The man, who lives on the ground floor of the same building, allegedly twisted the arm of the pillion rider, they said in a complaint filed at Vishnunagar police station.

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Four or five women and two young men from his family gathered and allegedly beat up the two women. Eyewitnesses said they showed no concern for the nine-month-old baby.

`Excuse me’ is a common courtesy and the accused’s reaction was unwarranted, the complainant said.

Senior inspector Sanjay Pawar of Vishnu Nagar police station told PTI that investigation was underway.

No First Information Report has been registered yet, he said, adding that police were probing if the incident arose from a past dispute.

Workers of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had recently launched an agitation demanding that staff at banks in Maharashtra should speak to customers in Marathi.

The United Forum of Bank Unions wrote to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, stating that people claiming to be MNS activists have been visiting bank branches and intimidating staff. Thackeray later asked his workers to cease the agitation.

Earlier this week, MNS workers assaulted a local bank employee for defending the use of Hindi in Mumbai’s Lonavala area.

A video of the assault has emerged on social media, gaining instant virality. A group of MNS workers are seen threatening the Lonavala branch manager of the Maharashtra Bank, demanding that all its officials speak and transact in Marathi.

According to the MNS workers, although the Maharashtra Bank is a nationalised bank, 99 percent of its customers were Marathis. They argued that rural customers might not be able to understand Hindi and hence insisted that the bank use the local language for communication.

During the discussion, a Marathi-speaking employee interrupted arguing that customer service was not affected by the use of Hindi. As soon as he spoke, one of the MNS workers slapped him, followed by more slaps from other workers.

(with inputs from PTI)

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