The Bombay High Court on Thursday lambasted the Thane Police and administration over the law and order situation and voiced serious concerns about school safety, highlighting that if schools aren’t safe, discussions on the right to education lose significance.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said it was appalled to note that the Badlapur police had not probed the case properly.
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“We are appalled by the fact that the Badlapur police did not record the statement of the second victim girl under Section 164. Only after the suo motu PIL was registered yesterday, the statement of the father of one of the victims was recorded belatedly post-midnight.”
“If schools are not a safe place what is a child supposed to do? What did a three and four-year-old child do? This is absolutely shocking,” the court said.
The bench further said that action ought to be taken against the school authorities for not reporting the incident despite being aware of it. It also blasted the police over the delay in registering the FIR.
The court had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident where two four-year-old girls were sexually assaulted inside the school’s washroom at Badlapur in Thane district by a male attendant on August 12 and 13.
The bench also questioned the investigating authorities on whether complaint has been filed against the school where the incident happened under provisions of POCSO.
“Did you register any case against the school? There is a provision in POCSO to make the concerned officer of the school a party for not reporting the crime,” said Bombay HC.
The court said that it hoped that “no stone will be left unturned to ensure the justice”. “You (Police) recorded statements so belatedly, the incident is of August 13 and the FIR is of 16th, statement recorded now? Why statements of parents were not recorded earlier? Duty of the police officer is to record the statement as per procedures. We are interested in ensuring victims get justice,” Justice Mohite-Dere remarked.
The court also asked the police to provide details about the steps taken to ensure the the security and safety of the two girls and said it would examine the measures.
The bench said the police machinery had not moved till the public hit the streets with a protest and outburst.
“Unless there is strong public outburst, machinery won’t move. Won’t the state move till public outbursts like this,” the court asked.
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The bench has posted the matter for nest hearing on Tuesday, August 27.
The case pertains to the alleged sexual assault of two four-year-old girls in a washroom at a school in Badlapur. The FIR in the case was lodged on August 16 and the accused was arrested on August 17, as per court documents.
The accused, who was working as a cleaner on contract via a third-party company, was arrested on August 17 after the girls’ parents pressed for a formal complaint despite an initial delay in filing the FIR. A local court on Wednesday extended his police custody till August 26.
Thousands of protestors on Tuesday blocked railway tracks at Badlapur station which caused massive disruption of local train services and diversion of some long-distance trains. At least 15 outstation trains and local train services were suspended on the Ambernath-Karjat section for ten hours, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
(With inputs from agencies)
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