Pramesh S Jain
The HAL police have arrested a caretaker in connection with the alleged child abuse at a daycare centre operating inside Capgemini’s Bengaluru campus and produced them before a jurisdictional court.
The arrested have been identified as Vijayalakshmi (Accused No 2).
Senior officer said both were working as caretakers at the facility where the alleged abuse took place and videos were sent to child welfare department through WhatsApp.
According to the preliminary investigations,Manjula had recruited four other caretakers to work at the daycare centre.
Investigators found that none of the newly hired caretakers had been provided basic training in childcare or child handling before being assigned responsibilities at the facility.
Police are probing whether the lack of training and supervision contributed to the alleged incidents.
Given the seriousness of the allegations involving toddlers,the investigation is being supervised by a senior-level police officer.
Officials said statements of staff members and parents were being recorded,while CCTV footage and other evidence were being examined to establish the sequence of events and determine individual responsibility.
Meanwhile,Capgemini said it was fully cooperating in the investigation and had taken immediate precautionary measures.
In an official statement,the company said,”Capgemini’s foremost priority is the health,safety and wellbeing of its employees and their families.
We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and assisting them in their efforts to establish the facts.”
The company further said that,as a precautionary measure,it had temporarily closed the on-campus daycare facility on its Bengaluru campus pending further developments.
The arrests come amid an ongoing investigation into the alleged abuse at the daycare centre,with police expected to question additional staff members and examine the facility’s operating procedures as part of the probe.
The incidents reported on June 1st after an FIR was registered,bringing the matter into the public domain.
Capgemini issues statement :
At Capgemini,the safety and wellbeing of every child remain our highest priority.
The situation reported at the daycare facility in Bengaluru,operated by the external provider Little Scholars,is being treated with the utmost seriousness.
Our first thoughts are with the children and their families. We are extending all our support to them.
Our daycare providers are subject to rigorous due diligence and compliance checks.
These facilities support our employees,who entrust their children to these centres.This is an important part of our commitment to our team members.
While the authorities conduct their investigation, we have taken a number of concrete actions in the last 48hrs.
Immediate temporary closure of this daycare facility in Bengaluru pending review:
Extend our full cooperation to the authorities to clarify the facts and support that those responsible are held accountable.
Provide support to affected families,including access to a helpline facility,dedicated counselling through our Employee Assistance Program,and flexible work from home options.
We are reassessing all of our daycare providers across all of our facilities in India.
We are committed to acting decisively to protect our employees and their families it said.
Meanwhile the woman who recorded the videos of alleged abuse of toddlers at Capgemini Daycare case has now been arrested.
Cops say sharing of these videos involving children is an offence.The angle of her selectively recording the videos is also being probed.
