Badlapur sexual assaults: Parents of slain accused are homeless, HC told

Akshay Shinde’s parents also informed the court that they had not refused police protection, as claimed by the prosecution, but had been made to sign statements to that effect

MUMBAI: The parents of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur school sexual assaults case who was killed in a police encounter in September, have been rendered homeless, the Bombay high court was told on Thursday.

Mumbai, India – Sep 25, 2024: Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde's father Anna Shinde and mother outside High Court that it appears from the record that Akshay Shinde was shot dead at point-blank range, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, Sept 25, 2024. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

Responding to a query from the division bench of justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan, Shinde’s parents said they had to leave their house in Badlapur due to mounting pressure from society in the wake of their son’s alleged crime and subsequent extra-judicial killing. They added that their home had also been sealed by a bank from which they had taken a loan for their now-deceased son’s wedding, and they now live on the footpath.

Shinde’s parents also informed the court that they had not refused police protection, as claimed by the prosecution, but had been made to sign statements to that effect. “We need police protection, but we are worried about how it would affect our source of livelihood,” they said. The court then directed the police to assess whether there had been any threat to Shinde’s family and decide whether they needed to be provided with police protection.

The court had earlier this week inquired about Shinde’s family’s whereabouts. Amit Katarnaware, the advocate representing the deceased’s family, had stated that he had been unable to contact them.

On Thursday, the court was also informed by public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar that the survivors of the sexual assaults, two kindergarten girls, would be admitted to another public school, and the state government would bear the expenses of their education.

The court was hearing a suo-motu (on its own) petition regarding the sexual abuse of the two girls at a school in Badlapur in August. Shinde, who worked as a cleaner at the school, was arrested for the crime. He was shot dead by the Thane police crime branch in September in “retaliatory firing” when he was being taken from Taloja jail to Thane in a police van for questioning.

Akshay Shinde’s father, Anna Shinde, has termed the police encounter fake and claimed his son was killed for political reasons. He filed a petition in the high court seeking a court-monitored probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the encounter killing.