Noida Toddler Assaulted: Bite marks, beatings, thrust pencil in mouth, Noida teen who brutalised toddler had no formal training; here’s how daycare tried to cover up incident | Noida News

NOIDA: An attendant accused of torturing a 15-month-old child and biting her in the thighs at a daycare facility in Sector 137 is a minor, who should be attending school instead of working in one.Just 16 years old, the attendant and the owner of Blippi Pre-School and Day Care, which operated from a 3BHK flat in Paras Tierea, were named in the FIR lodged on a complaint by the toddler’s parents. The teenager, according to police, was hired at the facility only 10 days ago without any formal training. Her parents work as house helps in the same sector.

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Monica and Sandeep Kumar, the baby’s parents, had been sending their daughter at the daycare since May 21. Sandeep, who works in the IT department of a UK-based multinational company, had ensured the daycare’s safety by checking the installation of 5 CCTV cameras. Charu, its owner, had also assured them of their child’s safety.“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, the toddler attended the daycare for an hour daily, but Charu later requested a two-hour stay so that she got acquainted with the environment there. On the day of the incident — on Monday — Sandeep dropped off his daughter at 10.30am, while Monica picked her up after a couple of hours.Unlike other days, all teachers came to the gate, saying that the child had been crying all day long. When she returned home, Monica discovered bite marks on her daughter’s thighs.“My wife asked the teachers about the bite marks, but was told she had some infection from home. She ran to a doctor immediately. The doctor confirmed it wasn’t an infection, but marks of human teeth. He also told my wife that it appeared that our daughter had been tortured because she was visibly scared. My wife came home and informed me. I left office without any delay,” Sandeep said.When the couple encountered the daycare owner, she initially ruled out any such torture. The sought CCTV footage, but getting it was easier said than done.Citing technical issues, the lack of an application and even snapped wires, the staff at the daycare delayed providing the CCTV feed for four days. They eventually relented on Thursday after police intervened. Seeing the footage, the couple got the shock of their lives. It showed the attendant punching the child in a room, pushing her off a swing, dropping her on the floor, beating her with a plastic bat, and even inserting a pencil into her mouth.Sandeep alleged that the daycare tried to cover up the incident to safeguard its image. “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,” he added.Vinod Kumar Mishra, the SHO of Sector 142 police station, confirmed that an FIR had registered against Charu and the caretaker under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace) of BNS. The minor caretaker admitted to the assault, saying she was irritated as the child wouldn’t stop crying. A medical report corroborated multiple injury marks on the toddler.Charu, the owner, said she had been running the daycare since 2021 and had all the necessary documents, including registration from the local administration.“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 3-4 minutes. I later came to know she had assaulted the child for no reason,” she said. Charu asserted that she hired the teenager as she produced a card of the society that specified her age as 21.City magistrate Vivek Bhadoriya said commercial activities in gated societies should be monitored by RWA, with no involvement of the administration. Vikrant Mahajan, the RWA president, refrained from commenting on the daycare’s legality. KC Virmani, the Child Welfare Committee president, said the case would be handed over to them on Monday. He urged police to add sections under the Juvenile Justice Act as the child was assaulted in school.