Playschool Horror: Teachers Brutally Assault and Abuse Toddlers
An FIR was filed against two teachers in Mumbai for mistreating, hitting, slapping and physically abusing more than 25 toddlers.
An FIR was filed against two teachers - Jinal Cheda and Bhakti Shah of the play school named Rhymes and Rumbles at SV Road in Kandivali West, Mumbai for mistreating, hitting and slapping and physically abusing more than 25 toddlers.
Kaushal Zaveri is the parent of a kid at Rhymes and Rumbles playschool where the teachers at the school mistreated his son and other children as well. Zaveri told the police that he had enrolled his son in the preschool in October 2022 and the school goes on for two hours every day. He had started to notice severe behavioural changes in his son such as being afraid of noise. Zaveri said, “Since December we started observing behavioural changes in my son. He started getting scared of noises even if somebody laughed loudly at home. As days passed, he started becoming aggressive.” Zaveri said that the the first thing that came to his mind was that maybe his son was being bullied by other kids in the playgroup. He started getting more suspicious and then casually talked to other parents of the play school. It came out that all the parents were facing the same issue with their children. The toddlers’ behaviours were changing and no one could figure out why. Later, everyone realized that something could be fishy in the school. They demanded to get CCTV footage from the teachers at Rhymes and Rumbles.
Zaveri said, “I was shocked to see that the three teachers at the preschool - Jinal Chedda, (owner) Bhakti Shah and Juhi teacher (assistant teachers) were hitting the kids and literally pushing them on the floor and throwing them on the ground. They pinched their cheeks hard if they did not smile and pose nicely for an advertisement photo for their school. Kids are bitten and yelled at for doing potty in school. They even smacked their heads with books if they dropped them by mistake. They were literally dragged by one shoulder and thrown in a corner. They generally hit one kid and make him an example for the others who sat in fear. The helpers in the play school were involved in the abuses too.”
After watching the CCTV recordings, Zaveri and a few other parents approached the police. A police officer from the Kandivali police station said, “We have booked the two teachers under section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 (punishment for cruelty to a juvenile or child).” The police have given a notice to the teachers to be present before the officers and record their statements. The officer added, “Investigation is going on. We are scanning through the CCTV recordings of the playgroup and also recording statements of other parents.” The parents have also demanded the BMC to cancel the license of the school. During this entire time, neither the administration nor the management of the school could be connected with.
