Badlapur sexual assault: SIT files second chargesheet against accused | Mumbai News

The SIT has filed separate chargesheets based on the complaints of the two survivors. The first chargesheet was filed earlier this week. The SIT is also likely to arrest Shinde in another case filed against him by his second wife under Section 377 (unnatural sexual intercourse) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the parents of the survivor named in the first chargesheet have filed a written complaint with the Badlapur East police station, demanding action against the political leaders who circulated the FIR of the case on social media, thereby revealing their daughter's identity.

“Some political leaders have circulated the FIR registered in the case on social media without concealing our names. Now people can easily identify us and my daughter. If she gets into any situation in future, who will be responsible?” said the father of the four-year-old girl.

Advocate Aseem Sarode, representing the family, said, “We have filed a written complaint with the police and requested that proceedings be initiated under relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act against those who circulated the FIR on social media. We have evidence to support this claim. So far, the trustees have not been arrested by the SIT and continue to provide shelter to people with strong ties to a political party.”

According to the second chargesheet filed on Thursday, the accused took the four-year-old girl to a school toilet on August 13 and sexually abused her. The girl returned home and immediately informed her parents about the incident. She was taken to a private doctor who confirmed that the child had been sexually abused.

The next day, the girl's parents went to the school and informed the principal about the incident. However, they were reportedly told that the incident could not have taken place on school premises. When the parents requested the school's video footage, they were told that it was not available.

The SIT held the school authorities responsible for their negligence and named the trust's chairman Uday Kotwal, secretary Tushar Apte and school principal Archana Athavale as accused in the FIR. They were charged for allegedly not reporting the incident to the police. The police also failed to respond promptly, the chargesheet said.

The apathetic attitude of the school authorities and the police led to huge protests in Badlapur on August 20. Protesters blocked the railway tracks at Badlapur railway station for around ten hours after their appeals fell on deaf ears.

On August 30, Apte and Kotwal sought interim bail in the Kalyan district court. A special POCSO court in Kalyan denied them interim bail after the investigating officer in the case said the police had found evidence of negligence on the part of the school.