The story of the Patil of the village Ranjha is well-chronicled. In broad daylight, the officer Patil of the village picked up a poor peasant’s young daughter and raped her. Instead of living the rest of her life in humiliation, she chose to die. She committed suicide. The whole village cried mutely. Shivaji heard the news of this crime and tragedy. He had the Patil arrested and brought to Pune. The Patil’s arms and legs were cut off — as per the decreed punishment. The sentence was not only pronounced; it was implemented without delay. The people of Maval province could not believe their eyes
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