CCTV captures caretaker thrashing toddler at Kharghar creche, arrested
Screengrab from the video
In a shocking incident, a 10-month-old girl was allegedly assaulted at a creche in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai by a caretaker. The woman was later arrested along with the owner of the day care centre.
The incident came to light after the CCTV footage of Purva Play School and Creche, a day care centre for children at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, was analysed by the police and the toddler parents.
Kharghar Police subsequently arrested Afsana Sheikh and the day care centre’s owner Priyanka Nikam (34) yesterday. Although Nikam was later released on surety bail, Sheikh has been remanded in police custody.
The 10-month-old girl’s parents Ruchita and Rajat Sinha, who are complainants in the case, used to leave their child at the day care centre as they both are working.
On Tuesday, when they went to take her, they found a wound on their daughter’s forehead. Ruchita asked creche owner Nikam about it, but she did not get a proper response from the day care centre.
When the baby’s parents approached a doctor, he suspected it to be a case of child abuse. Following which, the child’s parents approached Kharghar police and lodged a complaint.
The police and the child’s parents were shocked when they later saw the CCTV footage of creche which showed Sheikh beating and slapping children who were left by their parents at the day care centre.
The CCTV footage also showed Sheikh beating Ruchita’s daughter while some other infants were sleeping, police said. In the video, Sheikh is seen hitting, throwing and kicking the child.
Police registered an offence against Sheikh and Nikam under section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of IPC and section 23 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act-2000, police official said.
The child is being treated at a private hospital for the injuries inflicted on her.
The video of the alleged incident has gone viral on social media, prompting Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde to take cognisance of the matter and make the installation of CCTVs compulsory at such centres.
Munde termed the incident as shocking. “We have decided to make it compulsory to install CCTVs at play schools, to avoid recurrence of such incidents,” she said.
