Badlapur assault case | School tried cover-up, dismissed the parents' concerns: State child rights panel chief
Badlapur assault case: The chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) on Wednesday condemned the handling of a sexual abuse case at a Badlapur school, claiming that the school administration attempted to cover up the crime rather than helping the victims' families in filing a police complaint.
Susieben Shah, chief of the MSCPCR, also emphasised the importance of rigorous monitoring of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO Act).
"They (the child protection unit) took them to the police to register a complaint. When I inquired about the situation, the school management attempted to cover it up. I even asked them why POCSO provisions should not be used against the school management," Shah explained.
Two four-year-old girls were allegedly sexually assaulted by Akshay Shinde, a 23-year-old male cleaner at the school. The assaults, which allegedly occurred on different days within ten days of Shinde's employment, were ignored by school officials.
Despite being told of the first assault on August 12, school officials did not report it to the police. Instead, they ignored the parents' concerns, claiming that the child may have been assaulted by an outsider.
The parents of the victim girls allegedly had to wait 11 hours at the Badlapur police station before officials took note of their complaints.
Frustrated with the lack of response from both the school and the police, the parents, together with local citizens, marched to the streets and railway tracks to demand justice. The demonstration began inside the school and swiftly intensified as people moved to block the railway tracks at Badlapur station, causing the central railway suburban network to come to a halt for many hours.
Shah stated that if the school administration had swiftly notified the authorities, the chaotic situation in Badlapur could have been avoided. "The issue arises from the parents being made to wait for 11 hours."
Despite being informed of the alleged sexual assault, the principal "chose not to contact the police. Instead, she went to the school management," Shah said, calling the incident a "terrible state of affairs".
- PTC NEWS
