Capgemini Creche Abuse: Earlier Complaints Ignored, Whistleblower Sacked Before Videos Surfaced
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Investigators probing the alleged abuse of toddlers at a crèche inside Capgemini's Bengaluru campus claim earlier complaints were ignored and the employee who raised concerns was dismissed before disturbing videos triggered police action.
By Pranjal Gupta
New Delhi, July 2: Authorities investigating the alleged abuse of toddlers at a crèche operating inside Capgemini's Bengaluru campus have claimed that earlier complaints about the facility were ignored. They also alleged that the employee who first raised concerns was dismissed before the abuse came to light.
Tilakesh Kumar, Legal and Probation Officer at the District Child Protection Unit, said the child helpline received a call on June 25 from a person who had previously reported the alleged abuse at the crèche, reported The Indian Express.
"When I spoke to the complainant, the person shared the details of the incidents and later showed me videos when we met," Kumar said.
Following the complaint, five women employees, including the crèche in charge at the Capgemini Technology Services India Ltd campus in Brookefield, were booked after Kumar filed a complaint with the HAL police station.
According to the complaint, the women allegedly used disturbing methods to frighten and punish the children. They are accused of locking crying toddlers inside washing machines to scare them, forcing them into narrow water-filled pipes, confining them inside bathroom spaces, and physically intimidating them in other ways.
The police have registered a case against the five women under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
(BNS) for criminal intimidation and under the Juvenile Justice Act for cruelty to children.
Videos allegedly confirmed abuse
After reviewing the videos provided by the complainant, Kumar visited the crèche along with officers from the HAL police station. At the time, around 40 to 50 children were present at the facility.
He said the visit was carried out to verify whether the videos had actually been recorded inside the crèche. According to Kumar, the background, colours of the premises and the faces of the staff matched what was seen in the footage.
The Child Protection Unit has also sought information from the company operating the crèche to better understand how the alleged abuse took place and whether similar incidents had occurred earlier.
Crèche run by third-party agency
Capgemini clarified that the crèche is managed by an external service provider and that the company does not oversee its day-to-day operations.
According to the company, responsibilities such as hiring staff, paying salaries and managing the facility are handled entirely by the third-party operator.
Parents allegedly unaware of abuse
Another official involved in the investigation said the behaviour shown in the videos suggested that threatening, beating and mistreating children had become routine for some of the staff.
"The staff were not sensitive enough to understand the kind of trauma such behaviour can cause to young children. It appears this had been going on for some time, but no one took steps to stop it," the official said.
The official added that the parents of the children, many of whom work at Capgemini, were
completely unaware of what was happening inside the crèche.
Investigators also said Capgemini employees were not allowed to enter the daycare facility, which may have enabled the alleged abuse to continue without parents knowing what was taking place.
Capgemini shuts crèche temporarily
On Wednesday, Capgemini announced that it was temporarily closing the on-campus daycare centre in Bengaluru as a "precautionary measure".
In a statement, the company said, "Capgemini's foremost priority is the health, safety and well-being of its employees and their families. We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and assisting them in their efforts to establish the facts."
The investigation into the alleged abuse is ongoing.
