Beta Padhao, Beti Bachao: Bombay HC On Badlapur Sexual Assault Case

In the latest development on the Bombay High Court's proceedings regarding the Badlapur rape case, the judges emphasised "Beta padhao, Beti bachao." The court was hearing a suo motu PIL on the Badlapur rape case. The court was headed by Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj K Chavan who heard the PIL on the case. The court said that boys need to be sensitized against sexual assault. Justice Fere said, "Education of boys is important. 'Bete ko padhao beti ko bachao.'" 

Displeasure with the investigation 

The court also expressed displeasure with the way the investigation of the case was being done. It targeted the police to be careful stressing the importance of conducting a proper investigation. 

Saying that the court often comes across cases in which the investigation isn't done properly, the court said, "Do not file the chargesheet in a hurry. Do not work under public pressure. Ensure the investigation is done properly. Day in and day out, we witness probes that are not conducted adequately. Our objective is to ensure that justice is delivered to those who seek help from the police."

Watertight investigation 

The court said that the investigation must be "watertight." The charge sheet, the court said, should not be filed before everything is in order. 

The court also pulled up the Special Investigation Probe (SIP) for improper investigation. 

"We are not satisfied with how the probe concerning the absconding accused has been handled. The case diary is a crucial document, and its poor maintenance is unacceptable. We were expecting concrete steps to be taken in this investigation."

However, Advocate General Birendra Saraf, who was representing the government, assured the court that a proper investigation was being done.  Advocate Saraf also added that the Maharashtra Government has formed a community to look into the the safety of girls in the school. 

Earlier also the court demanded that a committee must be formed to educate boys about what is right and what is wrong. 

As per the reports, the Test Identification Parade, collecting call records and the Forensic Science Laboratory report conducted by the state were submitted to the court. The state also presented the initial report of the committee formed to safeguard children in schools. 

Loophole in investigation 

However, the court found an exception and stressed that. It found an incomplete sentence in the report which goes, "Videos of sexual assault of minors if surface on social media...". Justice Chavan said that this sentence is extremely important and questioned the carelessness towards it and said, "The line is incomplete. This is a crucial sentence. Will you remove such videos from social media or not? How can you overlook something so important?"

The court, however, did acknowledge that the report contains several important suggestions and steps to be taken to protect children in school. The court said that the implementation of the policies should hopefully be done properly. 

The court further said that the state must form another committee addressing the issues of urban and rural schools. It said, We suggest the names of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi (former high court judges) to head the committee, which will be constituted by the state." The court signed off. 

Earlier judgment on the case

Bombay High Court took suo-motu cognizance of the Badlapur sexual assault case. The court said that rather than asking girls to be careful, boys must be schooled from the beginning about what is right behaviour and what is wrong behaviour. The court was hearing the case of two 4-year-old girls being sexually assaulted by the janitor of their school in Badlapur. 

The court was headed by a bench of two judges- Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan. The court said that male dominance and chauvinism persist in the society. Therefore, boys must be taught about right and wrong behaviour at a younger age. The court said this is the only solution to rising cases of rape of women. 

Prevalence of male dominance and chauvinism 

The judges said, “Male dominance and male chauvinism are still there. Until we teach our children at home about equality, nothing will happen. Until then, all these laws like Nirbhaya will not work." 

The court further added, “We always speak about girls. Why don’t we teach boys what is right and wrong? We need to change the mindset of boys when they are young. Teach them to respect women."

Maharashtra's Badlapur incident, which happened in the east of the city, has triggered a huge protest in the city. The protests were widespread across the state. 

The insensitivity of the Police and the medical department

The court said that the behaviour of the police while dealing with the case was insensitive. The court cited an incident in which the police asked one of the girls to come to the police station to record the statement rather than going to her home and recording it. 

“One of the girls and her family were asked to come to the police station to record their statement. The Badlapur police did not even attempt to record the statement at their house. There has been a serious lapse in the investigation by the Badlapur police,” the court said. 

Advocate General (AG) Birendra Saraf said that two police officers have been arrested due to the lapse in the investigation. The advocate general also said that the accused janitor is married thrice and the statements of his wives have been recorded. The CCTV footage of the school premises has also been collected and is under examination. 

The court also expressed displeasure at the fact that the girls were examined by male doctors. 

The suggestion is to form a committee to formulate rules for school boys

So to deal with the incident and to prevent more such incidents, the court has suggested forming a committee to address the issues of teaching boys about good and bad behaviour at the primary level. The court said that the committee will comprise a retired judge, a retired police officer, a retired Principal, a woman IPS officer and members of the Child Welfare Committee. The judges said that this committee must address the issues and provide rules and guidelines to be followed by schools to educate boys about respecting women.