Half an hour after Shivani Sharma dropped her daughter at a day care centre in Gurgaon, she received a call regarding an ‘emergency’ that required her to visit the nearby Artemis hospital. When the worried mother rushed there, she learnt that three-year-old Myra had lost her thumb in an accident at the day care.
Sharma, a private company employee, shared the April 28 incident on Facebook, which has been shared by over 10,000 users. Shivani’s husband was in London at the time of the accident.
According to Sharma, she was told that the incident occurred when another child at the centre accidentally slammed a door shut on Myra’s finger. “The top half of the thumb was crushed and cut,” she said in the post.
“I just stood there helplessly, watching my three-year-old bleed. The resident plastic surgeon told me that nothing could be done for the broken thumb... they could only perform a surgery to close the cut.”
The severed thumb was first treated by doctors at Artemis hospital and then a reconstructive surgery was carried out at Medanta, where the child is currently admitted.
In the Facebook post, she accused the owner of Cherub Angels day care centre of trying to shrug off responsibility and issue threats in an attempt to silence her. “I want to report the utter negligence of day care owner Archana Benjiwal and her staff the way they take care of the kids. She has been the reason for our suffering from last week,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}In the Facebook post, she accused the owner of Cherub Angels day care centre of trying to shrug off responsibility and issue threats in an attempt to silence her. “I want to report the utter negligence of day care owner Archana Benjiwal and her staff the way they take care of the kids. She has been the reason for our suffering from last week,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Police have lodged an FIR against Benjiwal under sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and Section 338 (voluntary causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Sharma said Benjiwal’s husband visited her house on May 1 to apologise, and promised to bear all the medical expenses arising from the incident. “However, we did not see or hear from them after that,” she said.
Despite repeated attempts, Benjiwal was not available for a response. The staff at the centre closed the door when HT tried to meet her.
“We have lodged an FIR in the case. We have summoned the owner of the day care centre and we will see whose fault it is. It is a case of negligence nevertheless,” Amit Kumar Singh, station house officer, Sector 56 police station said.