Badlapur sexual abuse: lawyer wants Bombay HC to take up issue

Mumbai, Aug 20 (PTI) A city-based lawyer on Tuesday requested the Bombay High Court to take suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the alleged sexual assault of two girls at a school in Badlapur town of Maharashtra.

Advocate Ajinkya Gaikwad approached Justice Bharati Dangre with his plea in the evening, but the judge asked him to approach the appropriate division or two-member bench.

A single bench cannot hear such matters, Justice Dangre said.

Two kindergarten students, aged three and four, were allegedly sexually abused by a 23-year-old male school attendant last week. It sparked off a massive railway blockade agitation on Tuesday.

While the accused has been arrested, the Maharashtra government earlier in the day ordered the formation of a special investigation team headed by senior IPS officer Arti Singh to probe the case.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the case will be fast-tracked and the guilty would not be spared. PTI SP KRK