Badlapur sexual assault accused dies in shootout after snatching gun from police

The man accused of raping two kindergarten girls in Badlapur near Mumbai died this evening after he fired at a policeman in a police vehicle and was injured in the retaliation. According to sources, Akshay Shinde had snatched the gun from a policeman and fired at one of the policemen, injuring him.

Police sources said officials from Badlapur went to Taloja jail to take Shinde into custody. 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, accuses him of rape and assault.

At around 6:30 pm, when the police team came near Mumbra bypass, Shinde grabbed a policeman's gun and fired several shots, injuring him. In revenge, another policeman shot Shinde, injuring him seriously. He was rushed to the hospital where he died.

Akshay Shinde, 23, was hired on August 1 to clean the school toilets on a contract basis. But a few days later, he allegedly raped the four-year-old girls in the school toilet. He was arrested on August 17 – five days after the children reported the attack to their parents.

Shortly after the brutal rape and murder of a young doctor in a hospital in Calcutta, the incident led to massive protests in the city of Thane. Thousands blocked the railway tracks for hours and had to be forcibly dispersed by the police.

The Bombay High Court, which had taken over the case alone, had sharply criticized the police investigation and pointed out in particular the deviations from the rules in questioning the children.

“The Badlapur police are not following the provisions of the law,” the judges said.

“They tried to record the victim's statement at the police station. This is a complete violation of the rule. Asking the victim and her parents to come to the police station to record the statement is totally insensitive and against the law,” they said.

The government then formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by senior IPS officer Arti Singh to investigate the sexual assault case.

The school also came under criticism. The court questioned the procedure for screening recruits and allowing male cleaners and guards to use the girls' toilets.