The Maharashtra government on Tuesday ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged sexual assault case of two girl students of a school in Badlapur in Thane district. The state government has announced the SIT led by Inspector General Arti Singh to investigate the entire episode. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that if police officers are found guilty in performing their duty, action will be taken against them as well. Let us tell you that Fadnavis is also the Home Minister of the state. Fadnavis said, “We have decided to run the case in a fast-track court. The Thane Police Commissioner has been asked to submit a proposal to hand over the case to the fast track court. The SIT led by IPS officer Arti Singh will submit the report as soon as possible.”
The accused was arrested
The state government has deputed Rural Development Minister and BJP leader Girish Mahajan and School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar to visit Badlapur and handle the situation. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said police officials have been asked to take strict action against the accused and investigate the school management’s lapse. “I have spoken to the police commissioner and asked him to take strict action against the accused. The police have been asked to initiate action under various sections of attempt to murder, attempt to rape and POCSO. The accused has been arrested. I have also asked the police to initiate an investigation against the school management,” he said.
Shinde said that the case will be heard in a fast track court by appointing a special public prosecutor. He also said that the government is preparing guidelines for schools to recruit staff to handle children, sensitize them, check the credentials of the staff. He said that no one responsible for this heinous crime will be spared.
‘Opposition is politicising the issue’
Meanwhile, Devendra Fadnavis said the opposition was politicising the issue. “Uddhav Thackeray is a former chief minister and Supriya Sule is a senior leader of the NCP-SP. We expect them to be sensitive and not politicise the issue. The police and the state government are handling the matter sensitively so that the situation does not get out of hand,” he said.
Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray has said that the school in Badlapur where two girl students were molested was run by people with links to the BJP. Speaking to media at his residence Matoshree, Thackeray said, “Such incidents are happening in the country. In some states of our country, incidents are politicised. On one hand we have the ‘Larki Behan’ scheme and on the other hand, the daughters of Ladki Behan are unsafe. Such incidents should not happen in the country. There should be a quick hearing of this case and those responsible for the delay should be held accountable. We should forget our party differences and come together and avoid such incidents.”
My government wanted to bring Shakti Bill- Uddhav
Uddhav Thackeray said that his government wanted to bring the Shakti Bill, but by then his government had fallen. Now it is the responsibility of the government to get the Shakti Bill passed. NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule targeted the state government and said that the CM and Deputy CM should resign if they are not able to protect girls and women. She said, “The crime rate has increased in the state. We are not doubting the ability of the police force. They are one of the best in the world, but the state government should introspect to find out what went wrong in the police force. It is the responsibility of the government to protect women in the state.”
Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the state government will have to pay a heavy price for its insensitivity. “The police administration has acted very insensitively, and this shows the government’s lethargy. If the government does not take action soon, it will have to pay a heavy price for it,” he said.
Order for formation of Vishakha Committee and Sakhi Savitri Committee in the school
Meanwhile, the school education minister has ordered the formation of Vishakha Samiti and Sakhi Savitri Samiti in every school across the state. Although the government ordered the formation of Sakhi Savitri Samitis eight months ago, many schools are yet to comply. In response, school education minister Deepak Kesarkar has decided to take action against the responsible block officials and issued notices to non-compliant schools.
In a press conference held on Tuesday afternoon, Kesarkar said, “The School Education Department will issue a new Government Resolution (GR) regarding safety measures to be taken in schools across the state.” He further added that a complaint box will be installed in every school, which will be opened daily in the presence of teachers, parents and police representatives. We are also in talks with some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to conduct special classes to identify “good touch” and “bad touch” in schools.
Kesarkar also pointed to a special drive of inspections in schools across the state to check the security measures taken by schools, including the deployment of CCTVs and their working condition. “We had made it mandatory for all schools to install CCTVs. I spoke to the chief minister about this for 15 minutes and gave him full details. A case has been registered against the accused Akshay under POCSO and he has been arrested. The chief minister and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra are monitoring the case. We take this incident very seriously,” Kesarkar said.