A senior citizen from Dahisar who was assaulted by a mob belonging to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) because his son had a rape case registered against him has slapped a notice on Raj Thackeray's party questioning its right to dispense mob justice and asking for compensation worth Rs 5 lakh from each of his assailants. MNS activists had barged into a saloon in Dahisar owned by 68-year-old Mahadeo Nikam on December 2, 2007, blackened his face, assaulted him and his wife and ransacked the shop to hand out 'justice' after his son, Prakash, was accused of raping his own daughter. The mob had hit Mahadeo after they could not find Prakash in the saloon. (Prakash's wife Surekha had registered the rape case against him the same day and it is being heard in court) The senior citizen filed a police complaint against the MNS activists, and five of them were booked for assault and unlawful entry. No arrests were made in the matter. Mahadeo has issued a notice to the five accused asking them what "right" they had to "dispense justice and ruin someone socially without even knowing the truth." He has said that the law will take its course in his son's case, but the MNS has no right to label him an accused, take the law in its own hands and deprive him of his basic constitutional right of liberty. Nikam further states that if the MNS workers do not respond to his notice within 15 days, he will have to file a public interest litigation for protection of his constitutional rights.
