Bengaluru nursery school horror: IT firm offers work-from-home jobs, counsels employees, investigation continues | Today’s news
As Bengaluru police continue to investigate the alleged abuse of toddlers at a Capgemini nursery, the IT firm said it has temporarily closed the center and extended the option to work from home to its employees as part of several measures taken to support affected families.
Capgemini said in a statement that while authorities are investigating, “we have taken a number of concrete actions over the past 48 hours.” These include:
1. Immediate temporary closure of this childcare facility in Bengaluru pending review
2. Extend our full cooperation to the authorities to clarify the facts and support that those responsible are held accountable
3. Provide support to affected families, including access to helpline facilities, specialist advice through our employment assistance program and flexible work-from-home options
Read also | IT Giant Capgemini Closes Nursery After Shocking Abuse Allegations
“At Capgemini, the safety and well-being of every child remains our highest priority. We are taking the situation reported at a Bengaluru day care facility run by an external provider, Little Scholars, with the utmost seriousness. Our first thoughts are with the children and their families,” the company said in a statement.
The company said it is providing all support to the affected family. “Our nursery providers are subject to strict due diligence and compliance checks,” he added.
“These facilities support our employees who entrust their children to these centers. It is an important part of our commitment to our team members,” said Capgemini.
“We are reviewing all of our daycare providers at all of our facilities in India. We are committed to taking decisive action to protect our employees and their families,” the company said.
What happened?
According to police, the alleged videos showed caregivers threatening the toddler, aged between two and three, when she cried or caused a disturbance.
It is alleged that the women put the children in a front-loading washing machine, sat them on a western-style toilet, sprayed water in their mouths with toilet spray, locked them in bathrooms and threatened them to keep quiet.
According to PTI, the police have arrested two nannies from a nursery run on the premises of an IT firm here for allegedly abusing toddlers.
Police sources said Manjula and Vijayalakshmi were arrested after an FIR was registered after videos of the alleged abuse went viral.
The investigating officer said they were identified during the video verification process, which led to their arrest. They were brought before the court, which sent them to 14-day judicial custody.
Commenting on the incident and subsequent arrest, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the state does not tolerate such incidents.
He said that the incident is not only about affecting the reputation of this company but also “Brand Bengaluru”.
“We have already sought an explanation from the company through our union,” the minister told reporters here.
He added that such big and reputed companies have their own policies which are not limited to India but are global standards.
“They are expected to operate on these principles – how crèches should be run, how crèches should be managed and how day care centers should function,” Priyank said.
The Minister explained that companies have their own Standard Operating Procedures which were overlooked.
“They should have done proper verification and different kinds of background checks. I believe that was not done,” he said.
Priyank said he was awaiting a written explanation from the company and stressed that no organization should allow such incidents to happen.
Matters involving toddlers, he added, must be handled with utmost responsibility.
“What happened is truly a matter of shame,” he said.
The Minister added that the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has guidelines on how day care centers should be run and managed.
