Badlapur sexual assault case: Internet suspended amid heavy protests, police lathi-charge protesters

Internet services were suspended in Badlapur of Thane district in India’s Maharashtra state on Tuesday (Aug 20) amid massiveprotests following the allegedsexual assault of two girls at a kindergarten. Earlier in the day, cops lathi-charged the protesters who were trying to block trains at the Badlapur railway station.

..Protests erupt in #Badlapur over #sexualassault of 4-year-old girls in school, #Mumbailocaltrain services hit.Police allegedly resorted to #lathicharge at railway stn. People who were protesting at the stn since morning have started being removed from the #railway tracks.#rape pic.twitter.com/tXDqRL51JN — Tariq Khan (@tariqkhansahara) August 20, 2024

The station as well as the kindergarten saw heavy police presence on Tuesday after both were vandalised by angry protesters.

The state government, led by allies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has vowed to fast-track the case and investigation.

"I spoke to the Commissioner of Police in the morning and said the accused should be charged under the strictest sections (of POCSO and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita). The case will be fast-tracked. The accused will be given the strictest punishment and, as people have demanded, we will seek capital punishment so that such incidents do not happen again,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was quoted as saying by India Today.

Watch:Badlapur Sexual Assault Case: Huge protests after two 4-year-old girls allegedly abused

The government earlier suspended the school principal and two staffers in connection with the case. On August 17, a school attendant was detained for allegedly abusing the two girls.

Meanwhile, opposition parties have slammed the government for using police force on the protesters.

"This lathi-charge on protesters is wrong... Who is Girish Mahajan? Why was he here? Is he the Home Minister?... The entire Maharashtra govt is not good, the CM, and DCMs, don't have the right to be in the government," said Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Ambadas Danve, a politician from Shiv Sena (UBT).

‘Parents forced to wait for 11 hours’

The opposition also claimed that parents of the victims were forced to wait for 11 hours at the Badlapur police station before their complaint was filed.

"Atrocities are committed on a three-and-half years old girl, a four-year-old girl, and at the police station, they (parents) are made to wait for 11 hours when they seek to file a complaint....Is there any sensitivity left? I spoke to the police commissioner and told him that the woman police officer responsible for this delay must be suspended immediately," alleged Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar.

The Badlapur case comes into the spotlight as the entire nation expresses outrage over Kolkata rape and murder case involving a junior doctor in the eastern state of West Bengal.

(With inputs from agencies)