Badlapur Sex Assault Case: SIT Declares School Principal, 2 Trustees Absconding

The principal and trustees of a school in Badlapur, where two fourth-graders were assaulted, have been declared absconding. Maharashtra police have launched a manhunt for them.

The principal and two trustees of the school in Maharashtra's Badlapur, where two fourth-grade girls were sexually assaulted, were declared absconding by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) team probing the case. Following this, Maharastra police's Crime Branch and Cyber wing have launched a massive manhunt for accused individuals. 

According to police sources, the SIT had registered a case of negligence against the principal and two trustees and had called them to record their statements. However, the three are not cooperating with the police or joining the investigation. "Also, when the police went to their houses, they were not found there. Following this, they were declared absconding," sources said. 

The sexual assault of two fourth-grade girls at Badlapur school sparked a statewide outrage, following which the police arrested a school attendant for abusing the children.

Meanwhile, the SIT on Tuesday announced that it would conduct the identification parade of the accused in the case. The identification parade will be conducted in the presence of the Executive Magistrate, where the victims will be identifying the accused. After the identification of the accused, SIT will prepare a psychological profile of the accused, which would help in further investigation of the case, according to a report by the news agency ANI.

On August 23, the SIT registered an FIR against the school authorities, for not complying with the provisions of Section 19 of the POCSO Act, which mandates that every authority, when they come to know about any such kind of sexual assault against minors, are obligated to report this to police authorities for further action. Under the leadership of the deputy director of the Mumbai region, the investigation team has been probing the Badlapur incident. 

Earlier, Maharastra Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar said that the CCTV footage of the school from the last 15 days had been missing. Kesarkar told media that, "The CCTV footage of the last 15 days is missing from the school. It is important to investigate why the footage has gone missing and what the motive behind it is." 

He also called for the installation of panic buttons in schools just like CCTVs."Just like CCTVs, panic buttons can also be installed...A panic button can also be installed in the hostels. It is an advanced technology,"  He added.