Akshay Shinde's parents seek to withdraw petition

Over four months after approaching the Bombay high court seeking an investigation into their son's custodial death, the parents of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur school sexual assaults case who was killed in a police encounter in September, appeared to have given up.

- Prateem Rohanekar

MUMBAI:

On Thursday, just three days after claiming they were being threatened and pressured to withdraw the case, the Shindes told the court they did not wish to pursue their petition. When the court asked them whether they were being pressured to withdraw, they replied in the negative, instead saying they could not run around behind the case anymore as they had to tend to their pregnant daughter-in-law, Akshay's wife.

However, a bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale said the case cannot be closed now as "so much has happened". To be sure, the Shindes' request to withdraw their petition was made verbally, and no formal application was filed.

Traumatic experience Anna Shinde and his wife's world turned upside down when their 24-year-old son, Akshay, who worked as a contractual cleaner at a pre-primary school in Badlapur, was arrested on August 17 for allegedly sexually assaulting two four-year-old girls in a bathroom. Four days after his arrest, a mob stormed into their home and assaulted them and their family members, forcing them to flee from their home.