Thane: The SIT probing the Badlapur case has shown the chairman, the principal and the secretary of the Badlapur school as wanted accused. It mentioned this in the remand application submitted in a special Pocso court on Monday while seeking extension of custody of the sweeper, the accused in the case. The court sent the accused to judicial custody for 14 days.
The SIT has shown the college authorities as accused for not reporting the case to police under Section 21 of Pocso Act (failure to report or record a case after learning about sexual assault)
When the accused was produced in court, at least 16 lawyers approached the judge, showing their willingness to fight the case for the victims.One of the lawyers, Priyesh Jadhav told the court that police had not added Section 6 of Pocso Act (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) as demanded by lawyers at the last hearing. The SIT informed the judge that it has invoked Section 6.
Advocate Asim Sarode, who was among those who asked the court for permission to fight the case for the victims, said, “Police did not work sensitively in this case because they did not apply the required sections in the beginning. This shows that police filed a faulty FIR.” However, a senior police officer who is part of the SIT told TOI, “We added all required sections after we took over the probe from local police.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, the school resumed classes, barring the nursery section where some measures for the safety of children were being completed. —Pradeep Gupta