Badlapur sexual assault: SIT declares two trustees of school absconding

Locals in Badlapur protested against the school last week after the incident came to light. File pic

The Special Investigating Team (SIT) formed by the Maharashtra Government to probe the Badlapur sexual assault has declared two trustees of the school, where the crime took place, absconding on Friday, the police said. On August 12 and 13, two four-year-old girls were sexually assaulted by a male attendant inside their school in Maharashtra's Badlapur.

The crime branch and cyber police team have been on the lookout for both the trustees after SIT registered a case of negligence against the duo and summoned them to record their statements. However, the police said that the two had not been cooperating with them in the probe. Later, when a team went to the house of the trustees they were not found there.

On August 23, SIT had registered a first information report (FIR) against the school authorities for not complying with the provisions of Section 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which mandates that every authority to report sexual offences against minors to police authorities for further action.

The team had also announced that it would conduct the identification parade of the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case in the presence of the Executive Magistrate, where the girls will be identifying the male attendant. After the identification of the accused, SIT will prepare his psychological profile, which would help in the further investigation of the case.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court (HC), which had taken suo motu cognisance of the case, had said that boys need to be educated about gender equality from a young age and that there is a need to bring about a change in their mindset. A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan further stated that male dominance and chauvinism continue in society, and there is a need to teach boys about right and wrong behaviour from a young age. The court also suggested constituting a committee to study the issue and recommend rules and guidelines to be followed in schools to prevent such incidents.

Under the leadership of the deputy director of the Mumbai region, the investigation team has been probing the Badlapur incident. People from various departments are involved in the investigation.

(With ANI inputs)