The accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case of two minors used to have domestic issues with his first wife and was remarried four months ago. 


23-year-old Akshay Shinde, who worked as a cleaning staff at a school in Badlapur, was arrested by the police on August 17 for sexually molesting two 4-year-old girl students inside the toilet of a school in Badlapur town in Maharashtra’s Thane district. 


Shinde's neighbour said his second wife had not been around for many days and he lived with his mother and brother, according to India Today.


He had remarried four months ago while his first wife had left him due to his habits and domestic issues.


"The (second) marriage happened around four months back. His first wife had left him due to his habits and domestic issues between them. Also, the second wife hadn't been seen for the past few days in the area," the neighbour reportedly said.


The neighbour further said that the whole locality was in shock and ashamed of him. "No one had imagined that such a monster was living here amongst us in this locality," the neighbour said. 


He claimed that Akshay Shinde had been living in the area for the past five years and he had stayed in a different locality. 


Shinde's family hails from the Gulbarga district of Karnataka while he was born in Kharwai. He, along with his parents and a younger brother, lived in a 'chawl' in Kharwai village.


Earlier today, some people stormed into his house and vandalised the belongings. The people also evicted Shinde's family members from the house and forced them to leave the village.


He studied till class 10th and worked as a security guard before being employed as a cleaning staff member at the school where the alleged incident took place.  


Family Claims Accused 'Innocent'


The parents of the accused on Thursday claimed that their son was innocent and he had been framed. The parents told a Marathi news channel that there is no truth in the allegations against their son.


“Our son had been doing the job for the past 15 days. He used to go to the school by 11 am daily to clean the bathroom. He would then proceed to another place for similar work,” his mother claimed.


The mother said they learnt on August 13 that such an incident had happened in the school. 


“A woman working with the school told me about the incident and about my son being taken to the police chowki (on August 17). I rushed there and saw police thrashing him. They also beat my younger son,” the mother said. 


The arrested attendant’s mother said she and her husband also used to go to the Badlapur school every day to clean the premises.