Badlapur abuse case survivor was ’reluctant to go to school or pee’ — here’s how family learnt about sexual assault

Two kindergarten girl students were allegedly sexually abused by cleaning staff at a school in Maharashtra's Badlapur last week. As the case came to light, a close relative of one of the two girls explained how the family got to know about the alleged sexual assault.

The incident reportedly took place in the school toilet on August 13. The parents informed the police about it on August 16, as per the First Information Report (FIR). The family alleged that the FIR was filed 11 hours after their complaint. On August 17, police arrested an attendant at the school, Akshay Shinde, 23, for sexually abusing the two girls.

"Dada misbehaved": How family learnt about the sexual assault

In an interview with News 18, a close relative of one of the girls said a classmate's case led to the suspicion. The relative said the child is still in shock and would refuse to go to school or pee.

“After the incident, the child refused to go to school. She was not even walking properly. We thought she might be having a urinary tract infection. We, however, noticed that she was avoiding going to the washroom," the relative was quoted as saying.

The relative further claimed the family had learned about an incident involving the girl's classmate. "Her classmate’s father and our relative’s grandfather are friends," the relative said.

"The other parent mentioned that his daughter told him a ‘dada’ (elder brother) misbehaved with her, which prompted their family to go for a medical test. After this conversation, the grandfather decided to get our child tested too, as she was reluctant to go to school or pee," the relative said.

The relative also said that the family suspects there could be a few more cases in the school. The relative said that a few days ago, some parents had informed the class teacher about the arrested accused’s “misconduct", but she didn’t pay attention.

“If a child is on a bathroom break for 15 minutes, shouldn’t the teacher check on her/him? More so because the restrooms are far from the class and attendants assist the students," the relative said.

The results, which reportedly indicated sexual assault, shocked the family.

In the wake of the incident, the school management suspended the principal, a class teacher and a female attendant. The state government ordered the suspension of three police officials, including a senior police inspector, for alleged dereliction of duty in probing the sexual abuse of the two girls.

Angry parents of the school children and local citizens, including several women, gathered outside the school on Tuesday morning and also resorted to a 'rail roko' protest at the railway station, blocking the path of local trains from around 8.30 am.