Daycare centre in India rejects abuse allegations, blames dismissed employees for viral clips

BENGALURU, India – The organisation running the daycare at the centre of the Bengaluru infant abuse controversy has rejected allegations of institutional wrongdoing, claiming the viral videos were part of a revenge-driven conspiracy by two former employees who had been dismissed for workplace misconduct.In a statement, Little Scholars – the company managing the daycare facility – alleged that the two caregivers were terminated before the videos surfaced and later attempted to extort money from the management.The institution said it is cooperating with the police investigation while maintaining that the allegations against it are false.Little Scholars alleges revenge plotAccording to the daycare, two employees were dismissed after being involved in a physical and verbal altercation during working hours.The institution said the incident took place on June 25. It claimed proprietor Ramandeep Kaur ordered their immediate termination under the organisation’s zero-tolerance policy and directed that their identity cards and other company credentials be returned.Little Scholars alleged that the two former employees later conspired to pressure the management into reinstating them.CCTV blind spots exploitedIn its statement, the daycare alleged that the dismissed employees secretly brought mobile phones into the facility in violation of its security rules.It further claimed that the women deliberately took infants to areas outside the CCTV coverage area and created distressing situations to record videos.The institution alleged that the clips were initially used to blackmail the management and secure re-employment. It claimed that the videos were released publicly after the demands were rejected.Extortion attempt after dismissalLittle Scholars’ legal counsel, Adithya Krishna Pandey, described the alleged abuse as a retaliatory act carried out after the employees lost their jobs.“Looking at the innocent souls being tortured and tormented in the way that they were, and though the videos were recorded mischievously, they were still recorded and brought out. It was basically an orchestrated torture that was done by the ladies involved,” he said.“They were terminated from their services (at the daycare centre) for their non-compliance with the rules and regulations of Little Scholars, such as the most important one being no verbal conflicts in front of the children,” he added.“Upon termination of the service, it seemed like a retaliatory act that they committed. The extortion attempts were made by the supervisor and her friend. We are cooperating with the investigation and waiting for that to come to an end to bring these mischievous ladies to justice so that the atrocities that they have committed against the children do not go unchecked.”Proprietor denies institutional responsibilityLittle Scholars’ Kaur said the organisation and its corporate client, Capgemini, should not be blamed for the incident.“Little Scholars and Capgemini are not at fault here. Those who are at fault should be punished... This incident has affected my business. A sum of 250,000 rupees (S$3,300) was demanded from me by one person, whom the police called a fraud.”The institution said it is extending full cooperation to investigators.The controversy erupted in June after videos surfaced online purportedly showing infants being mistreated at the daycare, which operates on the campus of the Indian unit of French IT services firm Capgemini.The police have registered a case and are investigating the incident. The allegations levelled by Little Scholars against its former employees have not been independently verified. THE STATESMAN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK