Bengaluru Police made the first arrest in the Capgemini daycare child abuse case on Friday. The arrested person has been identified as Vijayalakshmi, who has been named as Accused No. 2 in the FIR. Following this, she was produced before a court which sent her to 14 days of judicial custody. She was taken into custody after investigators allegedly identified her in disturbing video footage that surfaced online, showing children being subjected to abuse inside the facility. The case has triggered widespread outrage, with Bengaluru Police registering an FIR against five women employed at the daycare centre. The alleged victims are children between the ages of two and three years.
According to the investigating officer, Vijayalakshmi was identified during the verification of the viral video footage, following which she was taken into custody.
FIR against five daycare workers
The case was registered after videos allegedly showing toddlers being physically assaulted and mistreated inside the daycare centre came to light. During the preliminary investigation, the accused were identified as Vijayalakshmi, Sindhu, Manjula, Bhavani and Bindu. All five women were employed at the childcare facility, where employees of the IT company left their children during working hours. Apart from the police investigation, a separate complaint has also been submitted before the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
Disturbing allegations emerge from viral videos
The videos, which are considered highly disturbing, allegedly show daycare staff threatening and intimidating young children whenever they cried or made noise. According to the allegations, the children were subjected to severe mental and physical abuse. The daycare workers are accused of placing children inside a front-loading washing machine, spraying water into their mouths using a toilet jet spray, forcing them to sit on a Western-style toilet commode and locking them inside a bathroom. Due to the disturbing nature of the footage, the videos are not being reproduced.
Police verifying authenticity of videos
Bengaluru Police has registered a case against the five women under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The accused had earlier been detained for questioning on Tuesday.
Investigators are now examining the viral videos to verify their authenticity and determine when the incidents took place. Police are also trying to establish whether similar acts of abuse were committed against other children at the daycare centre. Officials said the video footage is being closely analysed to ascertain the exact dates and circumstances surrounding the alleged incidents.
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