Capgemini shuts Bengaluru daycare after child abuse, five booked

In Karnataka, IT company Capgemini has temporarily shut its daycare facility at its Bengaluru campus after videos allegedly showing toddlers being abused by caregivers surfaced online. In a statement, the company said, “Capgemini’s foremost priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees and their family members. We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and assisting them in their efforts to establish the facts. As a precautionary measure, we are temporarily closing the Bengaluru campus day care facility.”
The footage showed toddlers being forced to sit inside the drum of a front-loading washing machine, having water sprayed into their mouths with a jet spray, and being locked inside bathrooms as punishment for crying. The videos triggered widespread outrage, following which police registered an FIR against five women and launched an investigation into the abuse. Officials are probing whether the incidents were isolated or part of a pattern of repeated mistreatment at the facility.
The alleged abuse took place at the crèche on the company's Brookefield campus in east Bengaluru, where many employees leave their young children while at work. Police have booked five daycare workers-Manjula, Vijayalakshmi, Bhavani, Sindhu and Bindu- under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for criminal intimidation. Investigators said the footage was recorded by a staff member whose friend had been dismissed from the daycare centre last month. Police inspected the premises on Wednesday and collected CCTV footage. Notices have been issued to all five accused, asking them to appear for questioning.
Commissioner of Police for Bengaluru City, Seemanth Kumar Singh, called it a very serious incident and assured strict action against those found to be involved in or supporting such acts. "We are currently going through the complaint and the videos that have been submitted as part of it. We are verifying the facts. Whatever has happened is a very serious issue, and we will take strict action. We were not aware of this incident earlier, but as soon as we came to know about it, a case was immediately registered," Singh said. The matter has also been taken up by the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights after a petition sought its intervention. 

(State Correspondent)