Badlapur sexual assault: School had done no background check of accused, no CCTV, says MSCPCR chairperson

Speaking to The Indian Express, Shah who was at the school where the incident took place, said, “There was systemic failure that let the girls down. The school tried to keep it under wraps, the police took 12 hours to register an FIR, while the medical examination of the girls was delayed by 10 hours and they refused them admission. They were in the lactating room at the hospital.”

Denying the claims, Dr Manohar Bansode, civil surgeon of the hospital, said, “This is not true. We were not against admitting her. However, the girl was crying a lot, hence the relatives did not want her to be admitted.”

Shah added, “I am at the school and it does not have CCTV cameras, no Sakhi Savitri committee, male sweepers have access to girls’ toilets. Also, the accused was a contractual employee and yet his background verification was not done. We are checking if he had a prior criminal record.”

“Earlier, too, there have been similar cases in schools and we need to fix responsibility to ensure children who spend 6 to 8 hours a day in schools are safe. Crores are spent by the administration on schools and the school, too, should be charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act if such an incident takes place. That is the only way schools will take these issues seriously and implement all the measures suggested by the government, including the Sakhi Savitri committee and conducting background checks,” said the MSCPCR chairperson.

Sakhi Savitri committees have health workers, anganwadi workers, teachers, school management committees, counsellors, children themselves and all the stakeholders. They are meant to meet regularly to discuss safety issues relating to children.