Capgemini daycare case: NHRC seeks Karnataka report on alleged toddler abuse at crèche

The National Human Rights Commission on Friday took suo motu cognisance of allegations of cruelty towards toddlers at a crèche on an IT company's premises in Bengaluru, news agency PTI reported. The NHRC said it has issued notices to the Karnataka chief secretary and the director general of police, seeking a detailed report within two weeks.

According to the Commission, the incident came to light after a child helpline official received videos depicting cruelty towards toddlers. The children were reportedly those of professionals working at the campus who leave them at the facility while on duty. The NHRC said it had taken cognisance of a media report about some toddlers being treated inhumanely by nannies at a crèche operating on the premises of an IT company in Bengaluru.

The Commission said the contents of the news reports, if true, raise serious issues of human rights violations. According to the media report carried on 2 July, the video purportedly showed nannies placing toddlers inside a washing machine, spraying water into their mouths using a toilet jet spray, locking them inside toilets to silence them, forcing them to sit on Western-style commodes and threatening them to remain silent whenever they cried. The crèche has been temporarily closed as a precaution, the statement said.

Police said one of the two staff members accused of abusing children at the daycare centre inside Capgemini's Bengaluru campus was arrested on Thursday, while the other was still absconding. The woman in custody was identified as 55-year-old Vijayalakshmi. Inspector Suresh Reddy said she was produced before a court and remanded to three-day police custody on Friday. "Another accused, Manjula, is absconding, and our teams are making all efforts to secure her arrest at the earliest," Reddy said.

The three other staff members named in the FIR registered on 2 July were released after questioning because the available evidence did not implicate them, the inspector added. Investigators said the probe indicated that the clips attached to the complaint were allegedly recorded by a former employee who left the daycare shortly before they surfaced online. "We are also verifying the origin of the videos, when they were recorded, and the circumstances under which they were made public. All aspects are under investigation, and appropriate action will follow based on the findings," a senior officer said.

The NHRC has sought a report from the Karnataka authorities in the case. The crèche has been shut temporarily and the police investigation is continuing.