Badlapur School Sexual Abuse: What One of the Victims Revealed to Her Parents

Badlapur School Sexual Abuse: What One of the Victims Revealed to Her Parents

The massive protest caused a number of local train services to be hit and also diverted a number of long-distance trains on Wednesday morning. In the shocking incident, it caused waves of outrage as thousands of protesters gathered at Badlapur railway station in Maharashtra’s Thane district, blocking train tracks after two four-year-old girls were allegedly sexually assaulted by a school cleaner.

The grisly crimes are suspected to have taken place on the 12th and 13th of August, in a popular co-ed school in Badlapur, where a male cleaner named Akshay Shinde, aged 23, reportedly molested the two minor girls in the girl’s bathroom of the school. The accused was inducted on a contract on August 1, 2024, and reportedly took advantage of a vacant girl’s toilet due to non-deployment of female staff.

The parents of a victim heard the complaint of pain from their daughter and found that another girl was also victimised and later in the night of August 16, they filed a formal complaint at the police station, after which the accused were arrested. The FIR has mentioned that attacks were made between 9 A.M. and 12 P.M. of August 13. The families argue that the FIR was delayed by almost 12 hours by the police, which then filed it only at around 9 p.m. of August 16.

Outraged at the incident, parents of the victims turned up on Tuesday morning at the school to stage a silent protest. However, the result was things taking a very bad shape when a huge mob turned up at the protest between 9:30 AM and 10:00 AM, making it impossible for the few policemen attached to the Department to manage the mob. MNS leader Sangita Chedvankar, who was leading the protest, retreated back, and BJP MLA Kisan Kathore reportedly remained a mere spectator.

Following the protests, the school suspended its principal along with three members of staff. But under pressure from the citizenri, who have demanded that the death penalty be meted out to the accused, the Thane police have marshalled in heavy forces. The efforts of Government Railway Police (GRP) commissioner Ravindra Shisve to assuage the crowd have gone waste, as he has promised to take tough action against the shirtless man, but the protesters are unyielding and are still occupying the rail lines.

Things took a worse turn when the police started throwing tear gas at and lathi-charging the crowd in front of the school and the railway station, in return to which protestors pelted stones at them.

The protest affected at least 12 mail express trains that were canceled and almost 30 local trains that were partially rescheduled. “Total seven trains have been short-terminated on the Central Railway route while a few have been halted mid-way,” the official said. Central Railway CPRO also mentioned train services between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Ambernath and towards Kasara were running normally. He said the number of trains cancelled will rise during peak hours.

Also Read: Protests Erupt Over Sexual Assault of 4-Year-Olds in Thane School: Stones Thrown at Cops

This tragedy has shaken not only the local community but, indeed, the whole country into realising the urgent necessity for more safety and accountability of educational institutions. The demands for justice from different corners of society are not falling on deaf ears. Endless demands forced the authorities into taking action.