- A 23-month-old boy was bitten 25 times by another child in a private daycare in Maharashtra
- The caretaker locked three boys in a room and left them unattended for about 30 minutes
- The injured boy suffered severe wounds on his face, chest, back, and legs, officials said
A 23-month-old boy was allegedly bitten 25 times by another child inside a private daycare in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after a staff member locked them in a room and left them unattended.
The incident, which was captured on a CCTV camera, took place on June 22 in CIDCO, when a 29-year-old lawyer dropped her child at the Firstcry Intellitots pre-school around 10:30 am. The video shows the daycare's female caretaker sitting in a room with four boys as they played. Around half an hour later, one of the children tried to go out of the room.
While the caretaker was initially seen stopping him, she soon left the room with the child and locked the remaining three boys inside.
With no teacher or caregiver present in the room, the children began crying out of fear and tried to open the door. During this time, one of the boys started biting another child, while the third stood still in fear. The CCTV footage showed the child biting the boy 25 times over a period of approximately 15 minutes between 11 am and 11:30 am, with no staff member present to intervene.
He continued to groan in pain for nearly 45 minutes, but the headmistress, class teacher, or any other staff member did not look into the room.
The boy suffered severe injuries to his face, nose, lips, chest, back, and legs, officials said.
According to officials, the school administration did not tell the child's parents about the incident until 2 pm. When they finally arrived to pick him up, the daycare's principal told them that he had "only suffered scratches". But when the parents removed the boy's clothes, they were shocked to find severe injuries all over his body.
The child was admitted to a private hospital in the city for treatment.
A complaint was filed by the parents at a nearby police station, and subsequently, a case was filed against six staff members of the day care, including CEO Shubham Maheshwari (a resident of Pune), managers Mangesh Musale and Vaibhav Sawade, principal Kanchan Yewale, and the female caretaker.
The boy's parents alleged that the school management had offered them Rs 10 lakhs and three years of free education for their child in exchange for not filing a case. The management also told them, "you can't harm us", they alleged.
The Education Department has also initiated an investigation into the school.
However, no arrests have been made so far.
According to reports, the school lacks the necessary municipal permits.
