Pune violence victim’s mother seeks justice

Pune: The mother of Rahul Fatangale (28), who lost his life in the violence that erupted on January 1 at Bhima-Koregoan in Pune, said her son had been killed by a casteist crowd and sought that the government arrest his killers.

Janabai Fatangale was speaking at the ‘Sambhaji Bhide Sanman’ rally organised by the Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, an organisation of right-wing leader Sambhaji Bhide, who is being accused of involvement in the violence by some political leaders including Prakash Ambedkar.

Shiv Pratishthan and other Hindutva organisations held rallies at all district headquarters on Wednesday demanding that charges against Bhide be scrapped.

The police refused to permit a rally in Pune, so organisers held a sabha where over 2,000 people gathered. Participants were holding placards stating ‘Take crimes against Bhide back’, while saffron flags were raising displaying slogans such as Jai Shivaji, Jai Bhavani and Hindu Rashtra.