Five women working at a daycare center inside the campus of an IT company in Bengaluru have been booked for allegedly abusing young children entrusted to their care after disturbing videos of the incidents surfaced, police said on Wednesday.
The alleged incidents occurred at a child care facility in the city’s Brookfield area, where employees of the IT company leave their young children while working, news agency PTI reported.
The case came to light on Monday after videos allegedly showing the abuse surfaced on WhatsApp and were reported to the child helpline, prompting police to take action.
According to police, the videos show young children crying while being physically assaulted and mistreated by caregivers.
Police began questioning the accused and verifying the authenticity of the footage, including when the incidents occurred and whether other children had also been subjected to similar abuse.
No arrests have been made so far even as further investigations are underway.
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Allegations of torture
The complaint alleges that caregivers subjected children between the ages of two and three to multiple forms of abuse. The report added that according to police, the videos allegedly show the women threatening young children when they cry or cause a disturbance.
The complaint also alleges that the children were placed inside a front-loading washing machine, forced to sit on a Western-style toilet, had water sprayed in their mouths with a toilet jet sprayer, locked inside bathrooms and threatened to remain silent.
Based on the complaint, the police registered a case against the five women under relevant provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
A senior police officer said the accused are currently being interrogated while investigators continue to examine video clips and collect evidence to determine the full extent of the alleged abuses.
(With inputs from PTI)
