Badlapur sexual abuse case: Train services resume after 10 hours, police resort to lathi-charge to disperse protesters

Badlapur News: Train services from Badlapur railway station near Mumbai on Central Railway lines, which remained affected for nearly 10 hour after massive protests against the alleged sexual assault of two four-year-old girls by the school sweeper in the washroom, resumed on Tuesday late evening.

“Train services towards Badlapur-Karjat have been resumed,” said Central Railway's Mumbai Division in a post on X.

The first suburban train reached Badlapur station at 8:05 pm, almost 10 hours after the services were suspended, PTI quoted Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer of Central Railway.

The Maharashtra Police lathi-charged to disperse protesters around 6pm, who had gathered at the railway station since morning, after they hurled stones while rejecting pleas to call off the agitation.

The protestors had refused to vacate the area demanding strict action. A few people were also seen pelting stones at the police. 

A large number of police and RPF personnel were deployed around station area.

However, the Opposition has slammed the Maharashtra government over the lathi-charge.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve said the action on protestors was wrong.

He also questioned a visit by BJP leader and Minister Girish Mahajan at the protest site instead of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde or Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. "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 govt," ANI quoted Danve as saying.

Danve said the Maharashtra CM is promoting ‘Ladki Bahini’ Yojana and here ‘Ladki Bahin’ are being targeted and tortured. “They are our sisters.”

Protesters, many of them angry parents, also vandalised the school building.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) headed by senior IPS officer Arti Singh.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said action will be taken against the school. He said that the case will be fast-tracked and the guilty won’t be spared.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray invoked the Shakti bill and said that the incident at Badlapur school should not happen ‘anywhere in the country.’

"Not only in Badlapur, such incidents should not happen anywhere in the country. We were going to pass the Shakti Bill but our government was toppled. It is the responsibility of those who toppled our government and are now in power to pass the Shakti Bill and take stringent action," said Thackeray.