Opposition to the incident involving the accused of sexual assault in Badlapur

Thane (Maharashtra) [India]September 23 (ANI): Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) party on Monday slammed the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government over the encounter with the sexual assault accused from Badlapur near Thane and criticised the Mahayuti, terming the murder a violation of law and raising questions about the state's judicial system.

Slamming the Mahayuti government, NCP MP Supriya Sule said, “The Mahayuti government's actions in the Badlapur sexual assault case of two minor girls are shocking! First the delay in filing the FIR and now the main accused is killed in custody! This is an absolute breakdown of law enforcement and the judicial system. This is inexcusable. It is robbing the people of Maharashtra of justice.” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also reacted, calling it “incompetence” of the Mahayuti government. She added that the co-accused in the case are absconding and said that the entire row is a “story written by the state government.” “The accused is dead and the other co-accused under POCSO, who were members of the school board as well as office-bearers of the BJP, are absconding. Such a prime example of the ‘shoot and run’ tactic employed by an incompetent government,” the Rajya Sabha MP posted on X.

“Soon it will be like this: Nobody sexually molested the six-year-olds. A story that was written, promoted and implemented by the state government,” Chaturvedi added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and spokesperson Anand Dubey also commented on the incident and said, “The Home Minister and the police should form an SIT to investigate the case as there are many doubts. The government and the police should investigate and inform the public what happened.” Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar demanded a judicial inquiry into the case, while state Congress leader Nana Patole questioned whether the “encounter” took place to save the school's trustees, who have not been arrested so far.

NCP(SP) leader Sharad Pawar said on X that the incident was “suspicious” and wrote, “The injustice done to two children in Badlapur should have rightly attracted death penalty under the relevant laws. However, the negligence of the Home Ministry in handing over the main accused in this case raises suspicions.” “It seems that the government has failed to instill enough fear of the law to prevent anyone from even imagining such a heinous act in future. A thorough investigation into this incident is likely to bring out the truth,” he added.

Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan spoke on the issue and said, “He was murdered in cold blood. No one will believe that it was an encounter. This is a black day for the Maharashtra Police, which once had a sterling reputation.” “I have demanded an inquiry by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was in Mumbai at the same time. I do not think that the Maharashtra Police will be able to deliver justice under the present conditions. The real perpetrators of this crime will never be found. The people of Maharashtra want to know the truth,” Chavan said.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said, “We have come to know that the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case has died. We demand that no accused should be spared so that such incident does not happen again. Why is the government trying to protect the main culprits? The court should investigate this. This is the demand of the Congress party.” Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam also came down heavily on the opposition for raising questions about the Badlapur encounter with the accused. He said, “The encounter with the accused in the Badlapur incident is good news… Those who are raising questions about this encounter, I would like to ask whether they are on the side of the accused or the Maharashtra Police.” When this incident happened, these were the people who said that the accused should be punished publicly and today they are raising questions about it. I appeal to all opposition leaders to stand with the Maharashtra Police instead of shedding tears for the accused,” Nirupam said.

Earlier, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said, “His (Akshay Shinde) ex-wife had filed a sexual assault complaint against him. The police had issued an arrest warrant against him to investigate the case. He grabbed the police gun and fired at policemen and also in the air. The police shot him in self-defence. He was taken to hospital. Doctors will determine later but as per the preliminary information we have, he has died.” “The opposition is questioning everything; the same opposition has demanded that he be hanged. If he had attacked the police, would the police not have acted in self-defence? It is wrong to make an issue out of it,” Fadnavis said.

According to Thane police, accused Akshay Shinde in a fresh case lodged by his wife was being brought to Badlapur from Taloja jail when he snatched a gun from a police constable and opened fire, sustaining injuries near Mumbra bypass. He was later rushed to hospital where he died.

The man accused in the sexual assault of two minor girls in Badlapur died in a retaliatory attack on Monday evening after he snatched a policeman's gun and opened fire on him.

The alleged sexual assault of two fourth-graders at a school in Badlapur, Maharashtra, sparked outrage. On August 17, police arrested a school employee for allegedly abusing the girls.

The state government had set up an SIT to investigate the sexual assault case. (ANI)