Protest at Indian train station over alleged abuse of girls

Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered at a railway station in the western state of Maharashtra to protest against the alleged sexual abuse of two children.

The girls were allegedly abused last week while going to the toilet at their kindergarten in Badlapur town in Thane district.

Police have arrested a male school employee, but the children’s parents say there was a delay in the operation.

On Tuesday, train services were suspended at Badlapur railway station as angry protesters blocked the tracks demanding justice for the children.

+According to local reports, some protesters also threw stones at police.

Videos shared on social media showed huge crowds of people jostling each other on a train platform.

State Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been set up to investigate the case and that action would be taken against the school.

“We are in the process of processing this case in a fast-track procedure and no one will be spared if found guilty,” he said.

The school administration has also come under fire after the children’s parents raised concerns about various security deficiencies, including the lack of functioning surveillance cameras on campus.

Priyank Kanungo, chairman of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, described the school’s attitude towards the case as “callous” and claimed it was trying to “suppress the case”.

“The police station concerned did not register an FIR (First Information Report or initial complaint) in time,” he added.

Neither the police nor the school administration commented on these allegations.

However, according to the Times of India newspaper, the school has suspended its principal, a class teacher and a female employee because of the incident.

The protest comes following an outbreak of outrage across India following the rape and murder of a doctor-in-training in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.

The body of the 31-year-old woman was found earlier this month in the seminar room of a government hospital in Kolkata where she worked.