Badlapur sexual assault: MVA calls for Maharashtra bandh

Mumbai: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Wednesday called for a “Maharashtra bandh” on August 24 to protest against the alleged sexual assault on two young girls at a school in Badlapur of Thane district.

MVA allies – Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) headed by Sharad Pawar – took the decision after a meeting here, said Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of opposition in the state assembly.

He said all MVA allies will participate in the bandh on August 24.

 “We discussed the issue of women’s security in the state and the failure of the BJP-led Mahayuti government on all fronts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad led a protest outside Mantralaya, the state secretariat, over the Badlapur incident. Wadettiwar and a few congress leaders were also present during the protest.

Holding placards outside the gates of Mantralaya, Congress leaders and workers shouted slogans against the government for the “delay in the registration of the FIR”. The protesters were stopped by the police from entering the premises.

Gaikwad and Wadettiwar slammed the state government for the “rise in crimes against women in the state”.

Police on August 17 arrested an attendant at the school for sexually abusing two girl students of the kindergarten at a school in Badlapur. As per the complaint, he abused the girls in the toilet of the school, an official said.

The opposition parties have alleged that the parents of the girls were made to wait for 11 hours at Badlapur police station before the officials took note of their complaints.

Thousands of protesters on Tuesday blocked railway tracks at Badlapur station and stormed the school building over the incident.