An investigation has been launched into allegations that the owner of a pre-school locked up a three-year-old girl in a dark room.
The alleged incident took place in June, following which the girl’s parents approached the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR), which initiated a probe.
Explaining the sequence of events, the girl’s father said that his daughter started attending a pre-school in Kaggadaspura in the second week of June.
‘Undergoing treatment’
In the third week of June, one day the girl returned home sobbing. “She told us that her teacher had locked her up in a dark room and had twisted her ear. The punishment has affected my daughter’s behaviour. She is very disturbed and is undergoing psychiatric treatment,” said the father. The couple withdrew the child from the pre-school and demanded a refund of the fee. The principal offered to refund half of the Rs. 18,000 fee.
The parents approached the Commission, which held the first hearing last week. Chairperson Kripa Amar Alva said the commission is probing the case of corporal punishment, which is against the provisions of the RTE Act. The pre-school has been operating for the last five years from a two-storey building with four teachers and two support staff who take care of 30 children.
Owner denies
The owner denied the allegations, attributing the child’s distress to separation anxiety. “We told the parents that it was normal for any child to cry. We even counselled the parents, but they seem to think that we locked the child, which is not true,” she said.
Incidentally, the classrooms have CCTV cameras, but the footage was erased by the time the Commission took up the case.
The pre-school has a policy of erasing the footage every seven days, the principal explained. The Commission will be holding the second hearing next week.
