Bombay High Court on Thursday called the sexual assault on two four-year-olds at their school in Maharashtra’s Badlapur “absolutely shocking”, wondering what a child is supposed to do if schools are not a safe place and asking whether the government would act only if there was a public outcry.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said action ought to be taken against the school authorities for not reporting the incident despite being aware of it, adding that there cannot be any compromise on the safety and security of girls.

It also blasted the police over the delay in registering the FIR and its failure to record the statement of one of the victims yet.

The court had taken suo motu cognisance after two kindergarten girls were subjected to alleged sexual assault inside their school’s washroom at Badlapur in Thane district by a male attendant on August 12 and 13.

The crime triggered massive protests with angry residents blocking railway tracks and targeting the school.

The FIR was lodged on August 16 and the accused was arrested on August 17, according to court documents. A local court on Wednesday extended his police custody till August 26.

The high court bench said the police machinery had not moved until the public hit the streets.

“Unless there is a strong public outburst, the machinery won’t move. Won’t the State move till public outbursts like this?” the court asked.

The bench said it was appalled to note that the Badlapur police had not probed the case properly.

“Such serious matters where girls as young as three and four-year-olds have been sexually assaulted.... How can the police take it so lightly?” the court questioned.

“If schools are not a safe place, what is a child supposed to do? What did a three and four-year-old child do? This is absolutely shocking,” the court said.

The bench said it was “not at all happy” with the way the Badlapur police had handled the case.

“We are only interested in seeing that the victim girlsget justice and this is exactly what the police should have also been interested in,” the court said.

The bench directed the police to ensure that all support was provided to the victims and their families. The victims should not be victimised further, it said. “In this case the girls complained; there might be so many cases which may have gone unnoticed,” the bench said.

The court said the families of the girls ought to have received some support fromthe police but that did nothappen.

“First thing, the police should have filed an FIR.The school authorities were silent. This discourages people from coming forward,” the court said.

“People should not lose faith in the police system or the judicial system. If the public had to come to the streets, then think about the future,” it added.

The bench directed the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the government to probe the case to file a report by August 27 stating what steps it had taken to record the statements of the girls and their families.

The report must also state why the Badlapur policehad delayed registering the FIR and recording the statement of the second victim, the court said.

“We are appalled that the Badlapur police has not taken any steps to take the statement of the second girl till date,” the bench said.

The court said that if it came to know that there had been an attempt to hush up the case, it would not hesitate to act against the police officer concerned.