Badlapur sexual assault: SIT files second charge sheet against accused

THANE: The state-appointed special investigation team (SIT) on Thursday filed its second charge sheet in the Badlapur school sexual assault case, in which a cleaning staff member allegedly sexually assaulted two four-year-old girls on the school premises last month. Apart from the cleaner, Akshay Shinde, the police have also booked the school principal and two trustees of the educational institute that runs the school.
The SIT has filed separate charge sheets based on the complaints of the two survivors. The first charge sheet was filed earlier this week. The SIT is also likely to arrest Shinde in another case registered against him by his second wife under section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, the parents of the survivor mentioned in the first charge sheet have filed a written complaint with the Badlapur East police station, requesting action to be taken against political leaders who circulated the case’s FIR on social media, which revealed their daughter’s identity.
“Some political leaders have circulated the FIR registered in the case on social media without blurring our names. Now, people can easily identify us and my daughter. If she faces any situation in future, who will be responsible for that?” said the father of the four-year-old girl.
Advocate Aseem Sarode, who represented the family, said, “We have submitted a written complaint to the police, requesting that a case under relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act be registered against those who circulated the FIR on social media. We have evidence to support this claim. So far, the trustees have not been arrested by the SIT and they continue to provide shelter to individuals with strong ties to a political party.”
According to the second charge sheet filed on Thursday, the accused took the four-year-old girl to a washroom in the school on August 13 and sexually assaulted her. The girl returned home and immediately informed her parents about the incident. She was taken to a private doctor, who confirmed that the child was sexually assaulted.
The following day, the girl’s parents went to the school and informed the principal about the incident. However, they were allegedly told that the incident could not have happened on the school premises. When the parents requested the school’s CCTV footage, they were told that it wasn’t available.
The SIT held the school authorities responsible for negligence and named trust chairman Uday Kotwal, secretary Tushar Apte, and principal Archana Athavale as accused in the FIR. They are booked for allegedly failing to report the incident to the police. The police, too, did not take prompt action, according to the charge sheet.
The apathetic approach of the school authorities and the police led to huge protests in Badlapur on August 20. Protestors blocked the railway lines at Badlapur station for around 10 hours after their pleas fell on deaf ears.
On August 30, Apte and Kotwal applied for anticipatory bail in the Kalyan sessions court. A special POCSO court in Kalyan denied them anticipatory bail after the investigating officer in the case said the police had found evidence of negligence by the school.