Marathi writer Shobha Deshpande staged a 20-hour protest in Mumbai, Maharashtra, after a city-based jeweller allegedly refused to speak in the Marathi language and asked her to leave his shop where she had gone to make a purchase. The jeweller has apologised to the writer, who staged the protest overnight on the footpath outside his shop. Deshpande was later taken to a hospital for a medical check-up by the police.

The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) backed the protest and warned the jeweller, Shankarlal Jain, that he will not be able to open his shop till he learns Marathi. MNS workers also allegedly slapped the jeweller.