New Delhi: The wife of Bharatiya Janata Party MLC Suresh Dhas and two other people have been booked by the Maharashtra police for allegedly assaulting an Adivasi woman in Beed district.

While the incident occurred on October 15, a case was registered only on Sunday (October 22) under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, a report in the Scroll said.

The complainant has alleged that Prajakta Dhas, the wife of the legislator, attempted to forcibly take possession of her ancestral land with the help of her associates – one Rahul Jagdale and Raghav Pawar.

The 40-year-old woman and her family members were working in the field and collecting fodder for their cattle when the incident happened, India TV reported.

Prajakta allegedly claimed that the land belonged to her, while the complainant asserted that it had been in her family for the past six decades . Subsequently, Jagdali and Pawar assaulted the woman and disrobed her on Prajakta's orders, she said in her complaint.

No arrests have been made in the case, the Indian Express reported.

Maharashtra State Commission for Women chief Rupali Chakankar has demanded swift police action. “I have personally sought details of the incident from the Beed police superintendent,” she wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Police have been directed to take appropriate action. The commission will follow up till the woman gets justice.”

Suresh Dhas has reportedly been under police scanner in a series of complaints of land grabbing religious places, the Scroll report said.

In November last year, a case against Dhas was registered for alleged encroachment of temple land concerning as many 8 temples. Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik had alleged that 300 acres of religious land had been grabbed by Dhas and other local leaders, the Hindustan Times reported.

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