Uddhav Thackeray Urges Swift Passage of Shakti Bill Amid Protests Over Badlapur Sexual Assault Case

Uddhav Thackeray Urges Swift Passage of Shakti Bill Amid Protests Over Badlapur Sexual Assault Case

With the agitation at Badlapur railway station over the heinous sexual assault of two young girls by a male school attendant, former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took a firm stand by invoking the Shakti Bill on Tuesday. Thackeray expressed that if not for the toppling of his government, he himself was going to see that the bill gets passed. He called upon the people currently at the helm of affairs to take cognizance and hasten the passing of this Bill to ensure stringent possible actions against such heinous crimes.

This incident happened last week, and it involved two kindergarten girls in a school at Badlapur. The girls immediately confided in their parents about the incident and filed an FIR. This shameful incident has now caused countrywide outrage; hundreds of parents have staged a ‘rail roko’ protest at Badlapur railway station. The agitation severely affected suburban train services as the parents demanded prompt and severe action against the perpetrator.

As the situation remained tumultuous, Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar announced the suspension of the school principal, class teacher, and two assistants in response. He expressed his shock over the inordinate delay on the part of police to take cognizance of the complaint—lodged on August 18—as he said it took local police 8-12 hours.

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Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi mirrored the outrage, saying that societal norms should stop blaming women for their safety and pointing out just how young these victims were. NCP leader Anil Deshmukh called for an inquiry into the safety measures in schools, demanding strict action against those who are found guilty.

Baramati MP Supriya Sule attacked the police over the delay in registering the FIR and demanded a high-level probe into the matter. She said that the government at all costs should ensure the securing and justice for the state’s daughters and if it fails to do so, then it should resign.