On August 13, two kindergarten girls were sexually abused in a school toilet by a 23-year-old employee named Akshay Shinde in Badlapur. Shinde was employed on a contractual basis on August 1. The incident came to light when one of the victims narrated her suffering to her parents. The news spread across Badlapur. There was a huge protest across Maharashtra because police refused to register the case. Following the protest, Shinde was arrested by the police. There was a ‘Rail roko’ protest at Badlapur railway station with hundreds of protesters blocking railway tracks, hindering train operations. Police later removed the protesters from the site. The ruling Mahayuti alliance suspended policemen who refused to initially file an FIR in the sexual abuse case. Later, three police officers were also suspended.
The Maharashtra government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incidence. People call for bandh. Parents and others protest and vandalise the school where the two girls were sexually abused. They later protested at the Badlapur railway station for over 10 hours, demanding that the accused be hanged in public. The principal and two staffers working at Badlapur school were suspended. Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court took note of the case, questioning why no action was taken against the school.
SIT begins a probe into the case; during the investigation, SIT adds Pocso sections against the school principal, secretary, and chairman for not reporting the crime. The Bombay High Court urged the Maharashtra government to brief boys to be able to build a safe environment for girls to grow in society. It made the judgement while hearing a plea in the Badlapur sexual assault case.
On September 16, SIT filed its first chargesheet in the case, based on the complaint of one of the girls. Akshay Shinde, a sweeper employed at the school, was arrested on August 17 for sexually abusing the two girls, aged four and five, in a school toilet four days ago. The incident had triggered widespread protests. On September 19, SIT filed its second chargesheet in the case, based on the second girl’s complaint.
Akshay Shinde’s former wife also filed a sexual assault case against him; he was also the prime accused who sexually abused two kindergarten girls at a school in Badlapur. While Akshay was taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail for investigations in the case. When the police team carrying Akshay neared the Mumbra bypass, he snatched the gun of a constable and fired at the cops escorting him. In retaliation, Sanjay Shinde fired at him. Akshay was critically injured in the firing and died at the hospital. However, his family has challenged the police claim of the events that led to his death in custody. They denied that he could fire at the cops and alleged they had pressured him to confess his role in the rape case. The encounter triggered a war of words between the Maharashtra government and the opposition.
Interestingly, Sanjay Shinde, the police inspector who shot dead Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde, has worked with suspended former ‘encounter specialist’ Pradeep Sharma in the past, who was known as an ‘encounter specialist’. Pradeep Sharma was popular as an ‘encounter specialist’ in the Mumbai Police, credited with eliminating over 100 criminals during his career. After every encounter, the same theory was given to the media: that the police opened fire at the accused in self-defence.
