Schools, internet shut near Mumbai as protests grow against sexual abuse of minors

MUMBAI: Internet services were cut off and schools were closed for a second straight day in a town near India’s financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday, as protests over the alleged sexual abuse of two, four-year old girls intensified, media said.

The protests in Badlapur, about 50-kms from Mumbai, come amid nationwide demonstrations over the rape and murder of 31-year-old doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata.

A janitor was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing the students in a school in Badlapur on the weekend, media reported.

Calls and messages to police officials in Badlapur from Reuters were not answered on Tuesday.

Angry protesters blocked railway tracks for hours on Tuesday, demanding justice for the children, echoing similar protests across the country by doctors and women’s groups. Authorities ordered schools to remain shut, and internet services were suspended for a second day to quell any gatherings or protests, news channel ABP reported.

State Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the case would be tried in a fast-track court. Shinde said on Wednesday that the protests were politically motivated.

Maharashtra, India’s richest state, has state elections scheduled later this year, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party faces a tough fight from a joint opposition coalition.