Badlapur toddler sexual abuse | Shinde assures fast-track probe

Following a massive outrage over sexual abuse of two 4-year-old girls at a school in Thane's Badlapur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday (August 20) ordered the police to impose the attempt to rape charge against the accused.

The chief minister also said that a special public prosecutor will be appointed and the case will be fast-tracked. "I have spoken to the Thane Commissioner of Police. The accused has been arrested. I have asked the case to be fast-tracked and book the accused under the charges of attempt to rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act," he said.

CM warns of legal action

Shinde also warned of legal action if the management of the school is found negligent, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) stated. He has also proposed several measures aimed at improving school safety and preventing future abuse like the installation of complaint boxes in every school, enhancing scrutiny of school staff who frequently interact with students.

Two kindergarten students at a school in Badlapur were sexually abused by a male attendant recently. The accused was arrested last week. Angry residents on Tuesday stormed the school and vandalised it. They also resorted to rail blockade at the Badlapur railway station.

The management of the school has suspended the principal, a class teacher and a female attendant.

Woman officer to head probe

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said an inquiry led by a woman IPS officer has been ordered into the incident.

Talking to reporters in Delhi, Fadnavis said the state government has appointed Arti Singh, an inspector general-rank Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, to conduct the inquiry.

"It will be our endeavour to inquire into the incident at the earliest. We want to file the chargesheet in this case as soon as possible and place the matter before a fast-track court for hearing," he said.

"Our police department will make complete efforts to get such a barbaric and inhuman act punished immediately," the deputy chief minister added.

LoP slams Maharashtra police

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Tuesday alleged that the parents of a girl, who was sexually abused at a school in Badlapur, were made to sit at the police station for 11 hours to file their complaint.

In a video message posted on X (formerly Twitter), the Congress leader said the incident -- where two kindergarten girls were allegedly abused inside the school -- was "bigger" than the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a hospital in Kolkata.

Taking a swipe at the Eknath Shinde-led state government's much-advertised Ladki Bahin scheme for women, he asked why the chief minister and deputy chief ministers were silent about the present case.

The trial of the case should be completed within three months and the accused should be hanged, the leader of opposition demanded.

(With agency inputs)