BENGALURU: Bengaluru Police on Tuesday defended the arrest of Sujatha, the whistleblower in the alleged abuse of toddlers at a daycare centre on the Capgemini campus in Brookefield, saying investigators had found “sufficient evidence” to name her as an accused in the case.
Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said the investigation had indicated that Sujatha was “an equal party to the crime”, despite being the person who first brought the alleged abuse to light, according to PTI.
Sujatha, a former caregiver at the daycare centre, was arrested on Saturday. She is the second person to be taken into custody after another caregiver, Vijayalakshmi.
Responding to criticism over the arrest, Singh said the investigation had conclusively established that “something has gone wrong at the daycare centre, 100 per cent”, while adding that police were still determining the full extent of the alleged abuse.
He said investigators had identified procedural lapses in the handling of the case after the incidents came to light. According to the commissioner, mandatory reporting requirements under child protection laws were not followed, and there was a delay of several days in submitting the recorded evidence to the authorities.
Singh also said investigators had found indications that one of the alleged incidents may have been “stage-managed”, but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
While acknowledging Sujatha’s role in exposing the alleged abuse, the commissioner maintained that evidence collected during the probe pointed to her involvement in the offences under investigation.
The case revolves around videos that allegedly show toddlers, some aged between two and three years, being physically abused and intimidated by caregivers at the daycare centre.
According to the complaint, the children were allegedly placed inside a front-loading washing machine, forced to sit on a western-style toilet, sprayed with water in the mouth using a toilet jet, locked inside bathrooms and threatened into silence.
The allegations have sparked widespread outrage, while the arrest of the whistleblower has intensified scrutiny of the investigation and renewed concerns over child safety and accountability at daycare facilities.
