The father of Akshay Shinde, accused of sexually assaulting minor girls in a school in Badlapur, has filed a plea in the Bombay High Court, alleging that his son’s death in a police encounter was staged. Shinde was killed in an alleged shootout with police a few days ago.
Shinde’s father, Anna Shinde, speaking to PTI, expressed his family’s willingness to accept the verdict of a court after a fair trial. He questioned the police’s claim that Akshay snatched a policeman’s gun and fired, leading to a retaliatory shooting. “We want justice,” Anna Shinde said. “My son was scared of bursting crackers; how can he snatch a pistol from a police officer and open fire?”
Anna Shinde further pointed out that the police had already filed a charge sheet in the sexual assault case and Akshay could have been put on trial. “The family would have accepted the verdict delivered by the court after a trial, but we are poor people; we don’t have a voice,” he said, claiming that the police killed his son for some unknown reasons.
The family is expected to collect Akshay’s body on Wednesday for the last rites. After a post-mortem at the state-run J J hospital in Mumbai, Akshay Shinde’s body was sent to a civic-run hospital in Kalwa in Thane district.
This case has sparked outrage and raised serious questions about the circumstances surrounding Shinde’s death. The Bombay High Court is expected to hear the plea filed by his father and investigate the allegations of a staged encounter.
