New Delhi: Clashes broke out between police and a crowd which was staging a huge protest over the sexual assault of two four-year-old nursery girls at a school in Maharashtra’s Thane. The police lathi-charged the agitators and threw tear gas at the protesters at the Badlapur railway station to quell their voice. In response, protesters from the other side of the station hurled stones at the cops. However, the police chased away the demonstrators who scurried for cover.
Earlier, there was vociferous slogan-shouting by the protesters for over six hours at the station and many of them squatted on the railway tracks.
The public outcry reached a crescendo as more details about the sexual assault came to the fore. Protesters gathered at the local railway station Badlapur in the morning and prevented train movement for over six hours. A video shared by news agency ANI showed the protesters shouting “Hai, Hai” slogans against the cops and demanding death penalty for the cleaner allegedly involved in the sexual assault of the kids. As the situation spiralled out of control, police teams were pressed into service, which tried to disperse the crowd using force.
In a sharp reaction to the police using force on protesters, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote on X, “Lathi charged for asking for justice. Lathi charged for saying enough is enough. Lathi charged for asking our daughters to be safe. Not the police force I have known, I have trusted, I have believed in. Has to come from the government in charge.”
SIT formed, three cops suspended over sexual assault
It has been alleged that the parents of the girls were forced to wait for 11 hours at a local police station to lodge an FIR. The three policemen behind the alleged delay in filing the FIR have been suspended by the government. The school administration has also suspended the principal and fired the class teacher and nanny.
According to reports, the accused, identified as Akshay Shinde, was arrested after the FIR was filed. The accused worked as a cleaner in the school contracted through a third-party company.
On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government ordered to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged sexual assault of the two girl students. The minors were sexually assaulted inside the girls’ toilet at an English Medium school on August 16.