New Delhi: A three-year-old was allegedly tied to a chair for hours and slapped severely over several days at a playschool in Maujpur, northeast Delhi.
A case has been registered under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 12 (punishment for sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Sections 75 (punishment for cruelty to a child) and 82 (corporal punishment) of the Juvenile Justice Act were also invoked.
A caretaker has been arrested, while four persons were named as accused, including the school’s director, Sunita Bansal, principal Neelam, and teachers Simran and Pooja.
The abuse came to light after the family noticed changes in the child’s behaviour, including alleged difficulty sleeping and a fear of using the toilet. The child’s family claimed that he was beaten up at school and subjected to inappropriate conduct, and approached the school to review the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. The mother reportedly reviewed footage from August 16, 17, and 18.
A viral video on social media from inside the classroom shows a woman forcibly making the three-year-old sit in a chair and kicking it to the corner. She later tied the child to the chair using an apron and repeatedly slapped him.
The boy’s father, a 33-year-old advocate, subsequently seized the CCTV recorder and registered a first information report (FIR). “On August 18, when he returned from school, he indicated that he had pain in his ears. He had also vomited. We took him to an ENT specialist who asked us if we were hitting him because there was damage to his earlobes like he had been beaten up. We were shocked,” the boy’s father told Hindustan Times.
The parents said they later learnt that on that day, their child had been tied to a chair from around 9.45 am to 12.30 pm.
“The day before that, he was taken to the side and slapped across his face and again tied to the chair. On August 16 as well, he was beaten up,” the father said.
The police said there were abrasions on his face and arms.
Police said the school staff initially attempted to blame the child, while the boy’s father said when he confronted the management they said the toddler was hitting other children and throwing chairs in the classroom.
“My son is undergoing speech therapy. The school had complained about his behaviour three months ago, and I took him back home,” the father said. “Now I know that he may have thrown the chair because he was being tied to one.”
The family said he has been going to the playschool for a year and six months. However, he had become irritable and afraid to go to school since the start of August. He will be taken to therapy to overcome the experience, the family said.
Following reports of the incident, the Delhi government initiated proceedings to seal the premises of the playschool, the Chief Minister’s Office said on Monday, August 31.
“Delhi government has taken serious cognisance of the deeply disturbing incident reported from a playschool in Maujpur. On the directions of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the district magistrate has initiated proceedings to seal the school premises. Police investigation is underway,” the CMO said on X.
Delhi government would ensure that responsibility is fixed and those found guilty would face strict action under the law, it added.
