[Badlapur Kindergarten Rape]  “Identify Secluded Spot”: HC Asks Police After Father of Accused Seeks Burial Spot

The Bombay High Court Today (Sept 27) directed the police to identify a secluded spot for the burial of the body of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, who was killed in a police shootout. The father of the accused today moved the Bombay HC seeking a burial spot for his son.

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MUMBAI: On Friday, the Bombay High Court instructed the police to locate a secluded site for the burial of Akshay Shinde, who was accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case and killed in an alleged police shootout earlier this week.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and M M Sathaye directed that once a burial spot is identified, the police should inform Shinde’s family members, allowing them to conduct the burial. The court dismissed the prosecution’s argument that burial was not customary in Shinde’s community, affirming that the choice of burial lies with the parents.

Shinde’s father had urgently petitioned the court on Friday, seeking a burial ground for his son, after being unable to find a site locally. Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar informed the court that burial grounds in both Badlapur and surrounding areas had refused to permit Shinde’s burial. He assured the court that the police would take steps to “identify a secluded spot for the burial” and ensure that no incidents would occur.

Venegaonkar emphasized that the burial should be done quietly, stating,

“The family will be informed about the same. But they need not make an event out of it. Let them do it silently. The family members will be taken (to the burial spot) with police staff.”

The bench accepted these assurances and scheduled the next hearing for September 30.

During the hearing, Venegaonkar also claimed that police inquiries found no tradition of burial in Shinde’s community. He stated,

“Our enquiry has found that there is no such custom of burial. The family’s lawyer made a comment that they are burying only so that there is the option of exhumation in future. All senior members of their community themselves have said there is no such custom.”

However, the bench firmly rejected this argument, stating that

“the community will not decide what the parents want and nobody has the right to decide. It is the parents’ choice.”

Shinde’s lawyer, Amit Katarnaware, informed the court that the family had already identified a burial spot and sought permission from the Ambernath Municipal Council on Thursday. However,

“The CEO of the Ambernath Municipal Council did not grant permission and was sitting on the file till late evening (on Thursday),”

-Katarnaware said.

He further claimed that the family was receiving threats. The court advised them to file a police complaint, assuring that law enforcement would investigate the matter.

Venegaonkar responded that the police were already monitoring the family and their residence to ensure no breach of law and order or any “untoward incident” takes place.

Akshay Shinde, 24, was arrested last month for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Badlapur, located in Thane district. Earlier this week, Shinde was being transferred from Taloja jail to Badlapur for a case registered against him by his second wife when the shootout occurred, leading to his death. The incident took place near the Mumbra Bypass in Thane, where Shinde allegedly “snatched the gun of a policeman” and was killed in retaliatory police fire.

Shinde’s father has since filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, alleging that his son was killed in a “fake encounter” and requesting a High Court-monitored probe into his death. On Wednesday, Justice Dere’s bench raised concerns over the incident, emphasizing the need for “a fair and impartial probe” and noting that “the incident could have been avoided.”

The family has also claimed that Shinde had previously expressed his wish to be “buried instead of cremated.” His body remains in the mortuary of a civic hospital in Thane’s Kalwa area, awaiting the resolution of the burial site issue.

PREVIOUSLY IN BOMBAY HC

Two days after Badlapur sex assault accused Akshay Shinde was shot dead in custody, the Bombay High Court on Sept 25 asked tough questions to police about the circumstances leading to the 24-year-old’s death. The court was hearing a petition by Shinde’s father, who has alleged that his son was killed in a fake encounter and has demanded a probe by a Special Investigation Team.

Akshay Shinde (24) was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Badlapur where he worked as a sweeper. He was being taken from Taloja Jail to Badlapur Monday when he snatched a policeman’s pistol and opened fire. An assistant inspector was injured and Shinde was killed in retaliatory firing, police have said.

The Bombay High Court pulled up Mumbai police over the custodial death of the Badlapur sexual assault accused, saying there appeared to be foul play and the incident could not be “termed an encounter”. The court also directed the police to preserve the CCTV footage from the time the accused, Akshay Shinde, was brought out of the jail till he was declared dead at Shivaji Hospital.

Police said Shinde, accused of sexually abusing two girls at a Badlapur school, was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail when he snatched Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh More’s pistol and fired at the escorting police team, injuring three cops. Shinde was then killed in retaliatory firing by police.

After the Chief Public Prosecutor, representing the state, narrated the sequence of events, the court said,

“This is hard to believe. Prima facie, there is foul play. A layman cannot fire a pistol, unlike a revolver which any tom, dick and harry can do. A weak man cannot load a pistol as it needs strength.”

The High Court was hearing the petition filed by the accused’s father, Anna Shinde, who sought a probe by a Special Investigation Team into his son’s death in the “fake encounter”. The petitioner claimed Shinde was killed in view of the forthcoming Assembly elections.

The court said that the accused was not a “strong man” and could have been overpowered by the four police officers after he pulled the first trigger.

“This cannot be termed as an encounter. This is not an encounter,”

-the bench said, adding that it was hard to believe the police narrative.

BACKGROUND

The man accused of raping of two nursery school girls at Badlapur, near Mumbai, died on September 23, 2024, after he shot at a police officer inside a police vehicle and was injured in retaliatory firing.

The police said Akshay Shinde, 23, had snatched the gun of a constable and opened fire, injuring him. Amid Opposition allegations of that he was killed in an ‘encounter‘, the Maharashtra government has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the ,matter.

The police said officers from Badlapur had gone to Taloja jail to take custody of Shinde. They wanted to question him in connection with a new case filed by his first wife. The woman, who left him five days after their wedding, has accused him of rape and assault.

Around 6:30 pm, when the police team reached near the Mumbra bypass, Shinde snatched the gun of a constable and fired several rounds, injuring him. In retaliation, another officer shot Shinde, leaving him critically injured. He was taken to the hospital where he died. The constable, Nilesh More, who was also injured, is under treatment at a hospital.

THE CASE

Akshay Shinde, 23, was appointed on a contractual basis to clean school washrooms on August 1. But within days, he allegedly raped the four-year-olds in the school’s washroom. He was arrested on August 17 — five days after the children reported the assault to their parents.

Coming on the heels of the horrific rape-murder of a young doctor at a Kolkata hospital, the incident had led to massive protests in the town in Thane. Thousands had blocked railway lines for hours and had to be forcibly removed by the police.

The Bombay High Court, which had taken up the case on its own, had sharply criticised the police investigation, especially pointing to its deviation from rules in the questioning of the children.

“The mandate of the law is not followed by Badlapur police,”

-the judges had said.

“They attempted to record the victim girl’s statements at the police station. There is complete non-compliance with the mandate. Asking the victim and her parents to come to the police station for a statement recording is completely insensitive and against the law,”

-they said.

The school also came in for criticism, with the court questioning their process of vetting the recruits and allowing male cleaners and attendants inside girls’ washrooms.

The government later formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by senior IPS officer Arti Singh to probe the sexual assault case. Sources had said the SIT has sufficient evidence against Shinde.

It became stronger after his family members gave statements. His father and brother had apparently said that he was mentally fit but had a cruel streak.

The school is also under investigation by the SIT, which has alleged that it did not comply with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), which mandates that every authority, when they come to know about sexual offences on minors, are obliged to report it to the police. Two of the school’s trustees are on the run.

Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Badlapur Kindergarten Rape

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