Fadnavis Announced SIT To Probe Beed Coaching Class Sexual Harassment Case

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced a special investigation team (SIT), headed by a senior woman officer, to probe the alleged sexual harassment of a minor girl at a coaching class in Beed.

NCP legislator Chetan Tupe raised the issue through a point of information in the state assembly. Tupe said two people had been arrested and remanded to a three-day police custody. The person protecting the accused needs to be unmasked, he added while raising the question "Who is protecting the accused?".

Responding to Tupe's demand, Fadnavis stated that those trying to shield the accused will not be spared. "The SIT will probe the case in a time-bound manner, and the guilty will be punished," the chief minister said, adding that a woman officer will head the prob team.

Two male teachers of a coaching centre were booked by Shivajinagar police in Beed for allegedly molesting and sexually harassing a 17-year-old female student between July 30, 2024 and May 25, 2025. As per the teen's complaint, the two teachers used to call her to the office of the coaching centre, force her to strip, and indulge in obscene acts with her.

The issue took a political turn, with former Maharashtra minister and NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde on Monday alleging that one of the two persons arrested in the case was linked to NCP (SP) MLA Sandip Kshirsagar. The latter denied the allegations.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, Munde said he had previously faced a media trial in cases even though he was not involved in them. "I have been in public life for 25 years and have never made a false allegation. The truth will come out in due course. People just need to wait," he added.

Kshirsagar claimed that had Munde been the guardian minister, the complaint of the girl would not have been registered so easily. When asked about Munde linking him to the accused in the harassment case, Kshirsagar took potshots at his bete noire Munde.

Responding to the allegations, Kshirsagar, the NCP (SP) MLA from Beed and a known critic of Munde, said the matter is being handled transparently. "As Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is the guardian minister for Beed, the survivor approached the police station and a complaint was registered promptly. The police have collected all the necessary CCTV footage. The investigation will reveal the facts," he said.

"When I raised concerns in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case, Munde was upset. I believe he still has not recovered from having to resign as a cabinet minister. He is now trying to question my commitment to public life and concern for the people, but has he ever visited Deshmukhâs family, who was abducted, tortured, and murdered? he questioned.