Badlapur is slowly returning to normalcy after three days of protests and unrest following the alleged sexual assault of two minor girls in a local school. However, fear and concern for children’s safety linger among residents.
Posters with the slogan ‘#MychildNotforPolitics’, coined by an alert resident, have come up across the city in Maharashtra’s Thane district, with some claiming that it is the “work of politicians”.
“People are still in trauma and concerned about their children’s safety after the incident in an old and trusted school in Badlapur,” said a 56-year-old shopkeeper at the Badlapur railway station, adding that “everyone has tried to capitalise on the unfortunate incident”.
The city had come to a standstill on August 20 after thousands of residents staged a massive protest over the police’s “delay” in registering an FIR against the accused, a member of the school’s cleaning staff, and the school “not reporting” the incident.
Political blame game
The protest sparked a political blame game, with the ruling Mahayuti calling the agitation “politically motivated” and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi criticising the government for its “negligence”.
Residents are now anxious about sending their children to the school in the Kulgaon area, spread over 16 acres and running for the past 75 years. “We are scared to send our daughters to school and worried about them missing their academic year,” said a woman with an eight-year-old daughter.
“A class with a capacity of 40 is enrolling 80 students, where is the protocol being followed here? There are no security measures, just one guard posted at the gate. What will a poor man like me do? The fee is minimal here,” said an autorickshaw driver, whose child studies in Class IV in the school. He says the annual fee is ₹1,500 and many students came from poor sections of society.
Public outrage
Recounting the protest, an eyewitness said, “Parents were protesting peacefully at the gate, but when the gate opened, people rushed in and started vandalising the nursery section. As soon as the news came in of the protest at the Badlapur railway station, the crowd started dispersing.”
Two hours after the protest, about 1 km away, the protesters blocked the railway track, disrupting connectivity. The last local train left the station at 9.38 a.m. as 42 suburban trains were partially cancelled and 14 long-route trains were diverted. By the next day, the police arrested 72 people and filed FIRs against at least 300 protesters.
“At least 15 police personnel were injured during the stone pelting,” said Badlapur Deputy Commissioner of Police Sudhakar Pathare.
“It felt odd, it was too crowded, people started gathering and raising slogans. We could hear them till here. Later, more police personnel started coming,” a vegetable vendor outside the railway station told The Hindu. The railway station is still guarded by the police and the government railway police (GRP).
Accused’s home vandalised
On August 20, another incident took place in the Kharwai Naka area of Badlapur. The residents of Kharwai Basti vandalised the house of the 24-year-old accused, manhandled his family members, and forced him to leave the village. The family hails from Karnataka’s Gulbarga district. After the vandalism, the house is now guarded by police personnel. The chawl, located at least 3 km from the school, consists of around 120 houses.
Though the police have barred the families of the victim and accused from giving statements to the media, the accused’s family, speaking to a TV channel, termed their son “innocent”. He was arrested on August 17 and remanded in police custody till August 26
In Kharwai Basti, a neighbour of the accused fumed, “People don’t want to talk about him as he has brought disgrace to the village. Everybody is concerned about the safety of their child now.”
Published - August 24, 2024 01:48 am IST