On social media, a video of a Maharashtra Independent women legislator slapping a young city engineer went viral. She also referred to him as “nalayak,” or “useless.”
Geeta Jain, an MLA from Mira Bhayandar in Thane district, slapped the engineer (identified as Shubham Patil) after Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation personnel forcibly removed a home’s residents and demolished the building without giving them any prior warning. Women and children were forced to remain on the road.
Jain urged the engineers to show a Government Resolution (GR) and questioned how they could demolish buildings.
Geeta Jain expressed her annoyance at the civic official’s laughter at the woman who was sobbing as her home was being pulled down. She claimed that slapping him was a natural response.
When discussing the incident, Geeta Jain noted that only a little fraction of the house that was demolished by young civic engineers was unlawful and that its occupants had pledged to remove the unlawful component.
According to Geeta Jain, the two engineers worked in collusion with the builders to demolish a private plot of land. She claimed she had no regrets about what she had done and was prepared to take whatever punishment.