What is the Badlapur sexual assault case? What’s the row over accused’s death in encounter?

Akshay Shinde, the man accused of allegedly sexually assaulting two four-year-old girls in Maharashtra’s Badlapur last month, was killed in a retaliatory firing on Monday (September 23).

The incident, which also injured a police official, triggered a massive row between the state government and the opposition.

While the administration calls it an act of “self-defence,” the opposition has called it a “fake encounter” and called for a probe.

Let’s take a closer look.

The incident

The dramatic incident took place at around 6.30 pm near Mumbra Bypass while 23-year-old Akshay was being taken from Taloja jail to Badlapur for an investigation into a fresh case that his ex-wife had filed.

Five days after their wedding, the woman left him and has accused him of abuse and rape, as per NDTV.

According to a News18 Marathi report, Shinde allegedly snatched assistant police inspector Nilesh More’s service gun when they were travelling and fired three rounds.

It stated that two of the shots missed their aim and that one struck More’s leg.

Another official retaliated by firing back at Shinde, leaving him critically injured.

Akshay and More were both taken to a hospital.

The accused died there of his injuries, according to ANI, which cited police sources in Thane.

His body was taken to JJ Hospital for a postmortem.

‘They killed him’

Akshay’s family has alleged a conspiracy planned by the police and the Badlapur school management, where the accused worked as a sweeper.

Anna Shinde, his father, has called for an inquiry into his son’s killing.

The mother said, “The police have killed our child. The school management must also be probed. The police got him to write something but we don’t know what it is,” his mother said. “My son was afraid of bursting crackers and crossing the road. How can he shoot at policemen?”

“I met him yesterday. He was fine at that time. He asked me when he will be released, and I said in a month. He told me to send money for food and gave me a number to send it to. He had a piece of paper in his hand and told me to look at what was written on it. An hour later, they carried out an encounter on him,” the mother alleged.

“He had gone to work at the school; I don’t know what happened there. He didn’t even know how to drive a car, how could he fire such a big gun? Those who killed my child should be punished too. We want justice,” she added.

The political row

The retaliatory firing incident has sparked a controversy between the ruling Mahayuti government and the opposition ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections later this year.

The Opposition termed it a “fake encounter” and demanded a judicial probe.

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said, “Were Akshay Shinde’s hands not tied by the police during the transit? How could he reach for the gun, and how come the police were so careless?” adding that there is no action against the “BJP-linked” school management, however, an arrested accused is shot dead in suspicious circumstances. “We have no trust in Badlapur police,” he added, calling for a judicial probe.

Veteran leader Sharad Pawar, who leads his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, wrote on X, “The laxity shown by the Home Department in transferring the main accused in this incident is questionable. It seems that the government has become weak.”

While calling for a judicial probe, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole asked if there was an attempt to save the absconding accused by killing the main accused in the encounter. Former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also termed it a “fake encounter.”

Baramati Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule said on X, “The Mahayuti Government’s approach to the Badlapur sexual assault case of two minor girls is shocking! Delay in the filing of the FIR first, and now the prime accused is killed in custody! This is an absolute breakdown of law enforcement and justice system. This is inexcusable, it deprives the people of Maharashtra of justice.”

In a post on X, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said the accused deserved to be hanged until death, but the incident that happened is reckless and suspicious.

Speaking for the Shiv Sena (UBT), Sushma Andhare compared the event to the 2019 shooting deaths of four rape suspects in Telangana.

“There too, the police claimed it was done in self-defence. However, due to the deaths, the truth never came out. The same will be the case with the Badlapur sexual assault. Was Akshay Shinde killed as he was hiding something more sinister? Why is the school management still on the run?” she said.

An act of ‘self-defence’

Maharashtra Chief Eknath Shinde and his Deputy Devendra Fadnavis said police shot dead Akshay in self-defence.

CM Shinde slammed the opposition by saying, “Earlier, the opposition parties demanded that Akshay Shinde be hanged. Now, they are taking his side and questioning the integrity of Maharashtra police. Such act of the opposition leaders is condemnable and unfortunate.”

He explained that the police were taking him to Badlapur to probe allegations made by his ex-wife.

“The opposition raises questions on every issue. They had wanted him to be hanged. It is wrong to say such things when the police tried to save lives,” the Deputy CM echoed.

Probe into the incident

Thane police commissioner Ashutosh Dumbre has set up an eight-member inquiry committee to investigate the incident.

The panel, which consists of two deputy commissioners of police, two assistant commissioners of police, and two police inspectors, would be led by additional police commissioner Punjabrao Ugle.

Badlapur sexual assault case

Two kindergarten students in Badlapur were sexually assaulted in a school toilet by Akshay on August 12. He was appointed on a contractual basis to clean school washrooms on August 1.

The 23-year-old accused was arrested on August 17 – five days after the parents learnt about the incident and filed an FIR.

Following the horrifying rape-murder of a young doctor at a hospital in Kolkata, the tragedy had sparked widespread protests in the Thane town. Police had to physically remove thousands of people who had been blocking local train tracks for hours.

The police investigation was harshly criticised by the Bombay High Court, which had acted suo motu. The court specifically pointed out that the police deviated from rules while questioning the children.

“The mandate of the law is not followed by Badlapur police. They attempted to record the victim girl’s statements at the police station. There is complete non-compliance with the mandate. Asking the victim and her parents to come to the police station for a statement recording is completely insensitive and against the law,” the court said.

The school faced criticism as well; the court questioned their recruitment process and their decision to let male attendants and cleaners into the girls’ restrooms.

To further look into the sexual assault case, the government then established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the command of senior IPS officer Arti Singh.

The SIT is also looking into the school because it claims it violated the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), which requires all authorities to notify the police of any information they learn about sexual offences against minors. There are two evading trustees at the institution.

The state administration mandated the installation of CCTV in all schools within a month following the incident. As stated by the state government, school licenses will be revoked if they refuse to install CCTVs within the allotted time frame.

This happened after it was revealed that the recordings from the 15 days leading up to the assault were missing and that none of the CCTV cameras were operational.