The Bombay High Court on Thursday expressed concern at the law and order situation prevailing in Thane and called the Thane police and administration ‘inefficient’ and ‘inapt’ saying that it is unsafe to send children to school as the infrastructure is not safe.
The division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said it was painful to know that the Badlapur police have not investigated the case.
That is why we are scandalized that the Badlapur police did not record the statement of the second victim girl under Section 164. It was only after the suo motu PIL was entered yesterday that the statement of the father of one of the victims was recorded in a belated manner after the midnight. ”
“If schools are not a safe place, where is a child supposed to go? What did a three- and four-year-old child do? This is most definitely shocking,” the court said.
The bench also opined that something should be done to the school authorities for failure to report the incident inaction despite the knowledge of it. It also heavily criticized the police over the delay in registration of the FIR.
The court had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident in which two four-year-old girls were sexually assaulted in the washroom of the school at Badlapur in Thane district on August 12 and 13 by a male attendant.
The bench also sought to know from the investigating authorities whether a complaint had been filed against the school where the incident had occurred under provisions of POCSO.
“You did not file any case against the school. In POCSO, the provision is there to make the school officer not report the crime,” Bombay HC said.
