Badlapur sexual assaults: School trustees granted bail in second case as well

Thane court grants bail to school trustees Uday Kotwal and Tushar Apte in Badlapur sexual assault case; CCTV footage tampering complicates investigation.

THANE: A day after releasing them on bail in the first case, the Kalyan sessions court on Friday granted bail to two school trustees in the second FIR registered in connection with the Badlapur school sexual assaults.

Badlapur sexual assaults: School trustees granted bail in second case as well

Additional district judge PP Muley granted bail to the school trust chairman Uday Kotwal and secretary Tushar Apte, observing that the charge levelled against them—failure to report the sexual assaults at their school to the police—was bailable. The trustees are ordered to be released upon furnishing personal bond of ₹25,000 and one or two sureties in the same amount.

On Friday, after the two were produced before the court, public prosecutor Ashwini Bhamre Patil informed the court that the CCTV footage of the school has been tampered with, hindering the police’s access to recover the recording for the day of the crime. The defence lawyer replied to the charge saying CCTV footage of the school was not available due to renovations and the relocation of the principal’s office from the ground floor to the first floor, and no one noticed it until this case was registered.

The court accepted the argument advanced by the defence lawyer that the charges levelled against the trustees were bailable and granted them bail.

After the Bombay high court questioned the state’s inaction in arresting the two on Tuesday, the state-appointed special investigation team (SIT), aided by the Thane crime branch, arrested two school trustees on Wednesday from Karjat in Raigad district. They were granted bail immediately after they were produced before the sessions court on Thursday in the first case.

The assaults on two four-year-old girls occurred on August 12 and 13, and although the principal informed the trustees, they failed to take immediate action, leading to their arrest under the POCSO Act for non-reporting. Additionally, police discovered that CCTV footage from the school had been tampered with.