The Thane police Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested the chairperson and the secretary of the Badlapur school where two minor students were allegedly sexually abused by a janitor in August. The two were arrested 38 days after being named in the two FIRs on August 23, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Maharashtra Government. The SIT had made three members of the school management co-accused in the case for “not reporting” the sexual assault of the two children to the police, as per the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. While two have been arrested, one teacher who has been named is yet to be nabbed. The Bombay High Court on Tuesday had also rejected their anticipatory bail pleas. On Tuesday, crime branch officials received specific information regarding their secret meeting in Karjat. After verification of the information through technical analysis, the officers at around 8.30 pm on Wednesday, nabbed the two who were planning to meet in a vehicle, a senior officer from the Thane Police told The Indian Express. The two accused were detained and were handed over to the special investigation team (SIT) formed to investigate the POCSO cases. They would be officially placed under arrest by the SIT and would be produced in the Kalyan court on Thursday, the senior officer added. The two accused had approached the high court after a special POCSO court in Kalyan rejected their pre-arrest bail plea earlier this month. While rejecting the two anticipatory bail pleas, High Court Justice Rajesh N Laddha noted, “Considering that victims are minors, the trauma they endeavour can affect their adolescent years, leaving them with lasting and irreversible psychological scars. And there is significant risk that in this case applicants may exert pressure on witnesses and tamper. In light of these circumstances, the PP rightly argued that this case is not appropriate for granting anticipatory bail.” The applicants (the accused chairperson and the secretary) had claimed that they were innocent and claimed the children attended school on August 14 and participated in the Independence Day celebration on August 15 accompanied by parents, and during the period, no complaints or grievances about the August 13 incident were reported. They also claimed that the victims appeared to be in good health, showing no signs of distress. The applicants also argued that there was a significant delay in filing FIR and carrying out medical examinations. They argued that there was no need to recover any documents or evidence from the applicants. However, public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, representing the police, argued saying the two (accused) were responsible for the school’s management and had an obligation to report the incident after their guardians approached the school’s principal. The janitor held in the Badlapur child sex abuse case was shot dead in an alleged police encounter on September 23 on Mumbra Bypass and was buried in a crematorium in Ulhasnagar in the Thane district on Sunday. The state CID is probing the alleged encounter and Bombay High Court is also hearing the petition filed by the janitor’s parents alleging that it was a fake encounter.
