Maharashtra: Six Months After Tribal Student’s Death, Family And Activists Protest Delay In Justice At Pen Tehsil

A sit-in protest was held outside the Pen Tehsil office on Wednesday by the family of Khushboo Thakare and members of various social organizations, demanding immediate action in the case related to the tribal student’s death. Khushboo Thakare, a student at Varavane Tribal Ashram School in Pen taluka, died six months ago during treatment for leprosy. However, no FIR has been registered in the case so far, leading to strong allegations that the health department is deliberately trying to suppress the incident.

Khushboo’s father, Namdev Thakare, along with social activists, alleged that despite the incident occurring six months ago, the state health department has failed to act transparently. They claimed that an official inquiry report into the incident, prepared by a committee appointed by the health department, was submitted to the state government on February 27, but was never shared with the police. This deliberate withholding of the report, they said, has obstructed the filing of criminal charges against those responsible.

During the protest, several key demands were put forward. Protesters demanded that the inquiry report prepared by the health department, along with the chemical analysis report of Khushboo Thakare, be immediately submitted to the police and made public. They also called for criminal charges to be filed based on complaints submitted by Khushboo’s family and social organizations. Further, they insisted that the statement given by Health Officer should not be accepted in the investigation and that the current District Health Officer, accused of delaying the case, should be relieved of his duties and booked for negligence. Additionally, the protestors demanded Rs 10 lakh in compensation for Khushboo’s family and called for a policy-level decision to improve healthcare services in tribal ashram schools.

The protest was led by social activist Santosh Thakur, representing the Gram Sanvardhan Social Organization, which has been pursuing the case consistently over the past six months. Tehsildar Tanaji Shejal and Police Inspector Sandeep Bagul visited the protest site and assured the protestors that efforts would be made through the district collector's office to obtain the necessary reports and provide them to the police.

"Following these assurances, and after we submitted a letter addressed to the District Collector, the sit-in protest was temporarily suspended until August 15. However, we warned that if the demands are not met by that date, an indefinite hunger strike would be launched outside the District Collector’s office," activist Thakur said.

Khushboo Thakare’s parents, Namdev and Shevanti Thakare, along with her grandfather Raghya Thakare, were present at the protest, joined by activists including Rajesh Rasal, Mahesh Patil, Naresh Kadu, Mahadev Sheed, Ashok Shid, Laxman Mengal, Ganesh Thakare, Janu Waghmare, Chandrakant Khakar, Namdev Kewari, Hari Sheed, Sopan Nivalkar, Meenal Tande, and many tribal community members.

The issue has also been raised in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly by MLAs Hemant Ogle, Dhamrarao Baba Atram, and Congress leader Nana Patole. Despite this, Health Minister Prakash Abitkar has not accepted that departmental negligence contributed to Khushboo’s death, Thakur said.

Protesters pointed out that even after repeated follow-ups, the police at Pen station—under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred have not received either the inquiry report or the chemical analysis report. They alleged that the District and Taluka Health Officers were intentionally withholding the documents to delay police action. It was only after the protest that Tehsildar Shejal, in writing, assured that both reports would be made available through the District Collector’s office, leading to the temporary suspension of the protest until Independence Day.