Accused in Mumbai’s daycare assault case had planned to open another centre

The owner of the centre and a help were arrested on Thursday based on CCTV footage, which showed the help assaulting the child.

The owner of the daycare centre at Kharghar where a nine-month-old girl was assaulted on Monday, was planning to start another centre at Kamothe.

The medical report revealed a brutal assault, resulting in bleeding in the girl’s brain. There was also a “suspicious fracture involving the occipital bone in the midline”, according to the report, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times. (Screengrab of the CCTV footage)

She had taken hired a property and was to start running the centre within a few days, the police said.

Commenting on the matter, the deputy commissioner of police (zone 2) Vishawash Pandhare said, “The accused had finalised everything about the second centre but was yet to start its functioning. That property has been locked now.”

After applying the charge of attempt to murder, the police sent a letter to the court to reject owner’s bail. The court also sent a notificaton to the owner of the daycare centre asking her to be present before the court. The owner, however, did not visit the court.

“She is not present at her at her home now. If she does not come to the court, we will ask permission to re-arrest her,” Dilip Kale, senior police inspector of Kharghar police station.

Meanwhile, the helper at the centre has been remanded to judicial custody. She is now in Kalyan jail.

The incident came as a shock to other parents who send their kids to the centre.

“I used to send my three-year-old daughter to the same daycare centre. But we never knew that they treated kids like this. From now we will be careful in choosing daycare centres,” said a resident of Kharghar sector 10, refusing to be named.

The Kharghar police have assigned an inspector-level officer to investigate the case. It was earlier being handled by a sub-inspector.

Residents of Kharghar held a silent protest on Friday evening condemning this incident. They also requested the police to take all possible steps so that the accused get the punishment they deserve.

Commenting on this, Kiran Patil, 34, a social activist said, “We have never heard of such incident before. How can someone assault a baby like this? The accused should get exemplary punishment so that no one dares to commit such crime in future.”

Read

Nine-month-old girl assaulted at Mumbai daycare centre, 2 arrested

Cops look through CCTV footage to check if Navi Mumbai daycare centre assaulted other kids

80 ‘activists’ smash shutters, railings at daycare centre