New Delhi: Taking note of the severe physical abuse of a three-and-a-half-year-old boy at a private playschool in northeast Delhi’s Maujpur, chief minister Rekha Gupta Monday ordered the sealing of its premises.
The father questioned why the “primary instigators are still free when CCTV footage shows the child being subjected to torture”. “My child has not been able to bathe properly or step into the washroom for the past 15 days out of absolute terror,” the father said. “Only the attendant has been arrested, but the other three who managed the classroom and enabled this abuse must also be jailed.”
The chief minister’s office (CMO) posted on X: “Delhi govt has taken serious cognisance of the deeply disturbing incident… On the directions of the CM, the district magistrate has initiated proceedings to seal the premises… A police investigation is underway. Govt will ensure that responsibility is fixed and those found guilty face the strictest action under law. A day after the school’s caretaker was arrested over the incident, the child’s father demanded the arrest of a teacher, the principal and director of the school, all of whom were named in an FIR.
When the parents finally accessed it on Aug 26, they came to know of the harassment and torture faced by the child from Aug 16 to 18. He claimed that while footage from just three days was released to the family, he suspects that the boy was also sexually assaulted at places outside CCTV coverage, and demanded a thorough probe.
However, a doctor said his eardrums were on the verge of rupturing, and that such severe internal injury could only be caused by continuous and hard blows to the ear, the father said. It initially suspected the boy was suffering from an ear infection as he kept flicking his ears. When the family confronted the school administration, the staff initially became defensive and demanded money just to release the CCTV footage, he claimed.
The trauma unfolded over several days before the family realised the extent of the violence.