A shocking case of alleged child mistreatment has rocked India’s southern tech hub Bengaluru, after a crèche worker at an on-campus daycare facility for employees of global consulting firm Capgemini was taken into police custody, with multiple other staff members under investigation. The incident came to public attention when disturbing videos showing abusive behavior toward vulnerable toddlers circulated online, triggering widespread public outrage and official probes across multiple levels of government.
According to law enforcement and child protection officials, the case was first flagged by an anonymous whistleblower, who contacted Bengaluru’s child protection unit with allegations of ongoing abuse at the crèche located inside Capgemini’s Brookfield campus, and shared the graphic footage as evidence. Child protection officer Thilakesh Kumar launched an immediate investigation following the tip-off, and found that the alleged assaults took place inside an on-site toilet, an area completely unmonitored by CCTV surveillance.
The footage, which has been verified by investigating authorities, purportedly shows multiple female crèche workers physically and emotionally abusing young children, who are the offspring of Capgemini employees. The abuse documented includes locking crying toddlers in enclosed spaces such as toilets and washing machines, and spraying children with water from bidets to intimidate them. After Kumar filed an official complaint, local police registered a criminal case against all five crèche employees, charging the group under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the country’s Juvenile Justice Act.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh confirmed to BBC Hindi that the first suspect taken into custody is a caregiver named Vijayalakshmi, who has since been remanded to judicial custody. An unnamed senior police official also told the outlet that two additional crèche workers had been brought in for questioning on the Thursday following the complaint, with investigators indicating that more arrests are expected in the coming days.
In the wake of the allegations, Capgemini moved quickly to suspend operations at the facility, issuing an official statement emphasizing that the health, safety, and welfare of its employees and their families remain the company’s top priority. “We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and assisting them in their efforts to establish the facts,” the company said, adding that the temporary closure of the on-campus crèche is being implemented as a precautionary measure.
The incident has thrown a harsh spotlight on a critical gap in India’s childcare regulation system. Over the past decade, a growing number of major Indian corporates have launched on-campus daycare facilities as a workplace perk to attract and retain skilled employees, especially working parents, in competitive sectors such as information technology. Unlike primary and secondary schools, which operate under clear, standardized national and state regulatory frameworks, daycare centers across India are governed by a patchwork of inconsistent state-level ordinances, municipal bylaws, and local licensing requirements. Safety and operational standards vary wildly across different states, and consistent enforcement of existing rules remains notoriously lax industry-wide.
State and national authorities have moved quickly to respond to the public outcry over the case. Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge confirmed that the state government is conducting a full review of the incident, and pledged that strict action will be taken against any individual or entity found to have violated child protection rules. Separately, India’s National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has launched its own independent probe into the abuse allegations, with commission officials scheduled to conduct an on-site inspection of the closed daycare facility the day after police made their first arrest.