Badlapur Sexual Assault: FIR Registered Against 300 Protestors, 40 Arrested

Following the massive protests on Tuesday in Badlapur near Mumbai against the sexual assault of two minor girls, the Thane police informed on Wednesday that an FIR has been registered against 300 protestors and 40 have been arrested.

The citizen's protest turned violent on Tuesday after the agitated crowd vandalised the school and also stone pelting incidents were reported from Badapur railway station. The police even lathi-charged the protestors. As per reports, three to four police personnel were injured of which one policeman's leg was hit and bled profoundly during the stone-pelting by protestors.

Education minister Deepak Kesarkar who also visited the spot on Tuesday had said that the CCTV footage are been analysed to catchhold of the people who vandalised the school. The minister had promised swift and strict actions. The protests also led to the suspension of Central Railway services beyond Ambarnath from morning 10.10 to 8.10 pm on Tuesday. Several long-distance trains were diverted too.

At the time the country is reeling under the horrifying incident of rape and murder of a resident doctor in Kolkata, two four-year-old girls were sexually assaulted by a 23-year-old school sweeper in a local school in Badlapur. The incident took place on August 12 and 13. 

The citizens had called for a Badlapur Band against the school administration for not taking swift action and against delay in filing the FIR. The protest however turned violent and the government came into action.

An SIT has been formed to investigate the case and it will be run on the fast-track court, CM Eknath Shinde and DCM Devendra Fadnavis announced on Tuesday. Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam will present the government in the case.

On Wednesday, a team of the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights is set to visit the Badlapur school where the sexual assault took place. Meanwhile, internet services in Badlapur have been discontinued.