On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court criticized the Special Investigation Team (SIT) handling the Badlapur school sexual assault case for its failure to arrest the two accused school trustees. A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan questioned how the police, known for going to great lengths to apprehend suspects, have been unable to arrest the accused in this case.
The court in August took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the case. Two girls - aged four and five - were sexually assaulted inside the washroom of a school in Badlapur town of Maharashtra's Thane district by a male attendant.
The accused, Akshay Shinde, was arrested and later killed by police in a shootout on September 23. In August, the Maharashtra government announced that a Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by an officer of Inspector General rank, would investigate the alleged sexual abuse of two girl students at the school in Badlapur.
Two trustees of the school—the chairman and the secretary—have also been named as accused in the case. They have been charged under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for failing to report the incident to the police promptly and for negligence. Advocate General Birendra Saraf informed the bench that the two accused are still at large and have not yet been apprehended.