Whistleblower Not Above the Law, Say Bengaluru Police in Capgemini Daycare Child Abuse Case

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh on Wednesday defended the arrest of the whistleblower in the alleged Capgemini child abuse case at a daycare centre at HAL campus, saying the person had delayed reporting the incidents despite recording evidence and was also found to have been involved in the alleged offence.

Addressing a press conference, Singh said the investigation had two aspects, verifying the authenticity of the viral videos and the complaint filed by the Child Protection Officer, and determining criminal liability.

"So far, only two people have been arrested. One of them happens to be the whistleblower. There is enough evidence to justify that arrest," he said.

The commissioner said that cases involving juveniles require specific legal procedures, which were allegedly not followed. He added that investigators had also found a significant delay between the recording of the incidents and reporting them to the authorities.

"There was a delay of sufficient time and days after recording these incidents. It is possible that the whistleblower was unaware of the legal requirements, but the investigation is still underway," Singh said.

Responding to criticism over the arrest, police maintained that being a whistleblower does not provide immunity from criminal prosecution. Officials said the decision was based on evidence collected during the investigation.

According to the police, the whistleblower allegedly failed to follow mandatory legal procedures in a case involving juveniles and delayed reporting the incidents. Investigators also claimed to have found evidence suggesting that one of the alleged incidents may have been staged. However, police declined to reveal further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, Capgemini had filed a complaint with the HAL police, alleging that employees of the daycare centre and others were involved in unlawful acts that endangered the safety, privacy and dignity of young children.

In its complaint, the company accused Little Scholars, the third-party agency that ran the daycare facility on its campus, of subjecting toddlers to physical and mental abuse, harassment and torture.

The company has sought action against the agency's partners, promoters, directors and nannies under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Earlier, five nannies employed at a crèche located on the campus of an IT firm in east Bengaluru were arrested after videos allegedly showing children being abused surfaced online.

The HAL police arrested Manjula, Vijayalakshmi, Bhavani, Sindhu and Bindu under provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with criminal intimidation.

The videos allegedly show the nannies placing toddlers aged between two and three years inside a washing machine, spraying water into their mouths with a toilet jet spray, and locking them inside toilets to stop them from crying. Police also alleged that the children were forced to sit on Western-style commodes and threatened into silence if they did not obey.