The State government informed the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that it has suspended the senior police inspector attached with the Badalpur police station, for dereliction of duty, who delayed lodging the FIR in the sexual assault of the two minor girls in school premises. Also, the two constables attached to the police stations have been given “strict warning” for not taking the case seriously.
Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar told the court that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) — which was set up by the government to probe the case — has been dismantled as the probe in the sexual assault case was over and two chargesheet have been filed against the deceased accused and school’s trustees.
In August, two minor girls were allegedly sexually assaulted in the toilet of their school by an attendant. He was arrested but was killed in an alleged police encounter in September.
Following the incident, a departmental inquiry was initiated against the police officials of the Badalpur police station for not lodging FIR in the case promptly and probing the case. “A lady officer, who was the senior police inspector of Badalpur police station, has been suspended after the departmental inquiry. Her two year increment has also been stopped,” Venegaonkar told a bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan.
Venegaonkar said that the probe is complete and two chargesheets have been filed in the case. “The probe in the case is over and the SIT is dismantled,” Venegaonkar said.
The court had taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the incident and directed formation of a committee of experts to examine the safety measures for children in schools and other educational institutions. Venegaonkar added that the committee’s report is expected in January 2025.
On a court query, Venegaonkar said that the parents have refused for police protection, however, one constable has been posted outside their house following security concerns.
However, parents’ advocate Amit Katarnaware refuted the claim that they denied police protection.The HC has asked the parents to appear through video conference on December 19.
