The Bombay High Court on Tuesday expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for its failure to arrest two school trustees implicated in the Badlapur sexual assault case. Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan of the division bench were critical of the police’s apparent inability to apprehend the accused, despite their general promptness in similar situations.
The case, which the court took suo motu cognizance of in August, involves the sexual assault of two young girls, aged four and five, by a male attendant inside the washroom of their school in Badlapur, a town in Maharashtra’s Thane district. The attendant, Akshay Shinde, was arrested but later died in a police shoot-out on September 23.
In response to the incident, the Maharashtra government established an SIT, led by an Inspector General of Police, to thoroughly investigate the allegations of sexual abuse at the school. The trustees, holding positions as chairman and secretary, were also named as accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for failing to report the incident promptly and for negligence.
Advocate General Birendra Saraf informed the bench that despite efforts, the two trustees remain at large and have even filed for anticipatory bail. The court questioned the effectiveness of the police efforts, asking, “The police go to any extent to nab an accused. How come they have not been able to apprehend these two? Are they waiting for them to get anticipatory bail?”
\
