Badlapur school trustee in the spotlight for delay in complaint against molester

Mumbai: The principal of the Badlapur school where two 4-year-old girls were allegedly molested by the toilet cleaner earlier this month, had informed the school trustee Tushar Apte about the attack immediately after one of the parents complained to her.
He chose not to take immediate action.
On Tuesday, nearly two thousand protestors gathered outside the school, ransacked the building before blockading the railway tracks. They were expressing anger and anguish over the tardiness by the school and the police in acting against the male staff accused of the sexual assault.
Multiple sources at Mantralaya confirmed to HT that the principal, who was since been suspended, has pointed to the role of the school trustee Tushar Apte who managed the school’s affairs. She is also believed to have told the two-member state-appointed committee that prior to joining the school on August 1, the toilet cleaner, 23, used to work at a farmhouse owned by Apte’s family.
Following the incident coming to light, the state government conducted a preliminary inquiry in the presence of the deputy director of school education department and chairperson of the state child rights commission (CRC). Sources said that during this inquiry, the principal confirmed that she had informed the trustee as soon as came to know about the incident, but no further action was taken. The trustee’s political connections also led to the delay in the police filing the FIR and giving the harried parents the run-around, added sources. The committee’s report is expected to be made public in the next couple of days. When contacted, one of the two committee members, Susieben Shah, refused to comment and said the report would revel all. The principal too refused to comment saying that she was under suspension and not allowed to speak to the media.
Several calls and text messages to Apte detailing the principal’s allegations, went unanswered.
School education minister Deepak Kesarkar said the government was waiting for the findings of the two-member commission and also the SIT before taking any action. “Rest assured though no one responsible for delay in filing complaint against accused will be forgiven,” he said.
Another school trustee Ram Patkar whom HT spoke to said he was deeply disturbed by the recent events. “My father Gopal Patkar helped the trust get land when he was the village head in 1960. But I am not involved in the day to day running of the school.” Patkar said he was unaware there had been a delay in filing the complaint against the alleged molester.