Noida Daycare Attendant Who Assaulted Toddler Had No Prior Training, Was Just 16 Years Old

by

Noida Daycare Horror: In a disturbing case that has sparked outrage across Noida and beyond, it has emerged that the girl accused of physically abusing a 15-month-old child at a daycare centre in Sector 137 is herself just 16 years old, a minor with no formal training who should have been in school rather than working in one.

The girl, hired merely 10 days prior to the incident, was working as an attendant at Blippi Pre-School and Day Care, which operated out of a 3BHK flat in the Paras Tierea residential complex. According to police, her hiring was entirely informal and lacked any due diligence or professional vetting. Her parents, who work as domestic helpers in the same area.

What Happened At Noida Daycare?

The toddler’s parents, Monica and Sandeep Kumar, had enrolled their daughter at the daycare on May 21. Sandeep, employed in the IT department of a UK-based multinational company, had taken steps to ensure their daughter’s safety, including inspecting the installation of five CCTV cameras across the facility. The daycare’s owner, Charu, had also personally assured the couple of a secure and caring environment.

“Before sending our daughter, we had checked all safety measures at the daycare. There were five CCTV cameras in all rooms, the hall, and kitchen areas. The owner assured us during admission that it’s the daycare’s responsibility to keep every child safe,” Sandeep told TOI.

Initially, their daughter attended the daycare for just an hour each day. Later, Charu suggested extending the stay to two hours to help the child better adjust to the surroundings.

On August 4, the day the abuse happened, Sandeep dropped his daughter off at 10:30 am, and Monica picked her up a couple of hours later. However, unlike other days, every teacher came to the gate when Monica arrived, mentioning that the child had been crying constantly. Once home, Monica noticed what appeared to be bite marks on the baby’s thighs.

ALSO READ: Supreme Court Warns Dog Lovers Against Meddling In Stray Removal Drive In Delhi-NCR

“My wife asked the teachers about the bite marks but was told she had some infection from home. She ran to a doctor immediately,” Sandeep said.

The doctor confirmed that the marks were not from an infection but were in fact human bite marks. He also noted that the child appeared terrified, suggesting she had been traumatised. Alarmed, Sandeep left work immediately to be with his family.

“We were paying Rs 2,500 for two hours,” the father told NDTV. He said another family in the residential complex has informed them that their child, too, faced a similar horror at the daycare, and they will be filing a police complaint soon.

ALSO READ: Bangladeshi Minor Girl Raped By 200 Men In 3 Months In India, Had Fled Home After Failing Exam

Owner Denied Any Mistreatment At First

When the couple confronted Charu, she at first denied any mistreatment had taken place. They requested to view the CCTV footage, something that proved difficult. The staff cited everything from technical faults and missing apps to broken wires as reasons for the delay, refusing to release any footage for four days.

It was only after police intervention on August 7 that the parents finally obtained the footage. What they saw was nothing short of horrifying; the young attendant was seen punching the baby in a closed room, shoving her off a swing, dropping her onto the floor, hitting her with a plastic bat, and even inserting a pencil into her mouth.

Family Alleges Owner Knew About Assault

“Charu would send a video of my daughter every 30 minutes daily since her admission. But on the day of the incident, I didn’t get a single clip from her. I think Charu was aware of what had happened and was trying to protect her image. Even when we complained to her, she put the blame on us, saying our child had suffered the injuries at home,” Sandeep alleged.

The FIR registered against Charu and the underage attendant includes sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Vinod Kumar Mishra, SHO of Sector 142 police station, confirmed the case and stated that the minor had admitted to assaulting the child because she was irritated by the baby’s crying. A medical report confirmed the toddler suffered multiple injuries.

Daycare Owner Denies Allegations

Charu, meanwhile, insisted she had no knowledge of the abuse until after the fact. “On the day of the incident, the girl was crying since her father left her at the daycare. At that time, 18 other children were present there. She even ate her food in front of me. I had asked the attendant to take care of her. She was with the child for a maximum of 3-4 minutes. I later came to know she had assaulted the child for no reason,” she said.

Charu also claimed she believed the attendant was 21 years old based on an ID card issued by the housing society.

KC Virmani, president of the Child Welfare Committee, stated the case would be handed over to them on Monday and urged the police to invoke relevant provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, since the assault took place within a school environment.

Leave a Comment