A massive protest in Maharashtra’s Thane district over the sexual assault of two four-year-old girls at a local school was forcibly dispersed by police using batons and tear gas on Tuesday. The protest, which had paralyzed the Badlapur railway station for over six hours, erupted into violence as demonstrators clashed with the police, turning the station into a chaotic scene resembling a war zone.
The protest began in the morning when thousands of outraged residents gathered at the Badlapur railway station, blocking the movement of trains and chanting slogans demanding justice.
The crowd swelled as hours passed, raising concerns about public safety and train disruptions. Despite government attempts to calm the situation, the protesters remained defiant, calling for the death penalty for the 23-year-old school cleaner allegedly involved in the assault.
As tensions escalated, the police moved in to disperse the crowd. Protesters who had been sitting on the railway tracks were forced to flee as the police advanced with batons. Some demonstrators responded by hurling stones, but the police ultimately prevailed, chasing down the fleeing protesters and restoring order at the station.
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The outrage over the sexual assault intensified after it was revealed that the parents of the victims were reportedly made to wait 11 hours at a local police station before they could file a First Information Report (FIR). This delay, widely condemned as a failure of the police’s duty, led to the suspension of three police personnel involved in the incident.
The protest in Thane comes on the heels of another high-profile case, the rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata, which has sparked a nationwide outcry and protests, particularly among the medical community. The Thane incident, involving such young victims, has drawn comparisons to the Kolkata case and has led to widespread anger across Maharashtra.
Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, condemned the handling of the case in Thane, calling it “bigger” than the Kolkata incident due to the age of the victims. “Atrocities are committed on a three-and-a-half-year-old girl, a four-year-old girl, and at the police station, they [the parents] are made to wait for 11 hours when they seek to file a complaint… Is there any sensitivity left?” Wadettiwar said, calling for immediate action against the responsible police officers.
The Thane protest underscores the growing frustration and anger over the handling of sexual assault cases in India, particularly those involving young children. As the situation develops, there is a growing demand for swift justice and stricter measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
