The Maharashtra government on Tuesday suspended three police officials for dereliction of duty in connection with the alleged sexual assault of two girls in Thane’s Badlapur, near Mumbai.
The girls, aged three and four, were allegedly sexually assaulted by a male attendant at their school on August 12. One of them told her parents about the assault on August 16, after which they approached the police.
The accused man was arrested the next day and booked under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, according to PTI.
Opposition leaders alleged that the parents of the girls were made to wait for 11 hours at the Badlapur police station before their complaints were registered, the news agency reported.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said that a senior police inspector, assistant sub-inspector and head constable were suspended for delaying action in the case.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the case would be fast-tracked in a special court “to ensure strict punishment for the accused”.
Earlier on Tuesday, a large crowd occupied the tracks at the Badlapur railway station to protest the alleged sexual assault, reported the Hindustan Times.
Train services in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region were disrupted as a result. Protestors also occupied roads and highways in Badlapur on Tuesday, reported The Indian Express.
Some protestors also threw stones at the police and at the school where the alleged sexual assault occurred, according to the newspaper. The police baton-charged the protestors to disperse them.
Ten express trains were diverted from Thane along an alternative route to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai. Train services from Badlapur to Karjat remained suspended while local trains between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Ambernath ran as per usual.
CM promises swift investigation, fast trial
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has promised the public that a swift investigation and expedited trial will be conducted in the case, reported The Indian Express. He promised a thorough and impartial inquiry into the school management and trustees.
“The accused has been arrested and instructions have been given to take strict action against the accused by charging them under stringent sections of POCSO and the BNS,” Shinde said. I have also instructed that this case be tried in a fast-track court and nobody guilty be spared.”
Opposition questions state government
Maharashtra’s Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi demanded a high-level investigation into the matter.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule alleged that the police did not register a first information report for over 18 hours after the incident.
Maharashtra school education minister Deepak Kesarkar told The Indian Express that the government was investigating whether a Sakhi Savitri Committee had been established at the Badlapur school. The Sakhi Savitri Committee is a three-tiered body set up by the education department to ensure the safety and security of students in schools.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) president Uddhav Thackeray also demanded that the case be heard by a fast-track court.
“I have learnt that the school also belongs to BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] people,” the former chief minister alleged. “I am not bringing politics into it, but I think no one should be spared and speedy action should be taken.”
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