Maharashtra forms SIT to probe morphed video of Shiv Sena woman leader

"The Maharashtra government has formed an SIT to investigate the morphed video of a woman Shivsena Spokesperson. Six teams led by an IPS officer to investigate the matter with the help of Cyber Police," said minister Shambhuraj Desai in the State Legislative Assembly.

"So far four people have been arrested and out of the four, one accused is connected to the social media team of the Uddhav Thackeray faction," added the Minister.

The matter pertains to Saturday evening when a rally was organized in Mumbai's Dahisar are, which was also attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. During the event, Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Surve and the woman leader welcomed the chief minister on stage.

As per allegations, during the rally, some miscreants made a video of the MLA Surve and the woman leader. They allegedly edited the video, put obscene songs into it and made it viral on the internet, said Mumbai Police said.

After the video went viral on Saturday night, leaders and workers of the Shinde faction reached the Dahisar police station and demanded an investigation against the accused.

Based on the complaint of the woman leader, the police registered against the unknown accused under sections 354, 509, 500, 34 and 67 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and started an investigation into the matter.

The woman leader, whose alleged morphed video has been made viral, told ANI that she has been on the receiving side of hate for a long time.

Speaking to ANI, she said, "The attacks on me started when my friends and I started working with CM Eknath Shinde. We have been subjected to abusive messages and derogatory comments on social media."

The leader said that she always chose to ignore the hate, but the situation escalated, when the morphed video was made viral.

She added, "During a rally, our local MLA Prakash Surve, CM Eknath Shinde and several BJP leaders were present. At that time, someone made a video, morphed it and made it viral on social media."

She also claimed that no woman will enter politics if such things happen.

"They are trying to assassinate the character of woman who are working in politics. There are women working as a journalist, woman going to office, if this is how the character of women is assassinated, no woman will come in politics," she said.

She also alleged that the two accused who have been arrested are "office bearers of Thackeray faction".

"I complained to the police about the matter, after which two people were arrested who are office bearers of the Thackeray group, so there is nothing to say," she alleged.

Further investigation is underway in the case and more details are awaited. (ANI)