A 55-year-old woman was arrested on charges of assaulting a four-year-old student of a private school in Jeedimetla, a suburb of Hyderabad, on Saturday evening.
The suspect, Lakshmi, was one of the child care workers — ayahs — at the school and is suspected to attacked the child due to a grudge against her mother, who also works at the same school.
A video of the attack went viral, prompting Jeedimetla police to book both the ayah and the school management for violation of the Juvenile Justice Act and Section 118 (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of BNS. The four-year-old is a nursery student at the school.
The incident, which left many shocked, happened in the washroom of the school. The accused took the girl to the washroom and allegedly attacked her repeatedly. The video shows Lakshmi stomped on the girl, banged her head against the floor, throttled her and slapped her multiple times.
The incident was captured on the phone of a resident living nearby the school. While the girl’s mother was alerted of the incident, her complaints to the school management went unheard, Jeedimetla police said. The girl was subsequently admitted to hospital for the injuries she sustained.
After the video went viral, and the police were alerted, the school management suspended the ayah. “The school did not inform the district education officials of the assault. Hence the DEO is reviewing the school’s permits,” Jeedimetla police officer said.
