BHUBANESWAR: Video of a toddler girl tied to the window of a hotel and thrashed by its staff has prompted Bhubaneswar Childline to lodge a complaint with Khandagiri police station in the city on Saturday. A local who was witness to the brutality, recorded the incident and sent the video to the Childline on Friday following which a complaint was lodged with police.
Although the date on which the incident took place is yet to be ascertained, Childline’s probe revealed the accused tied the kid’s right hand with a towel to a window and hit her face with a stick. When the little girl screamed, they took turns to further scare her by shouting and threatening to slap her.
All this happened while the girl was sitting outside the hotel when her parents working inside. Official sources said, parents of the girl, aged about year and a half, work in the hotel and used to bring their daughter to the workplace.
Although the parents were asked about the incident by Childline officials, they refused to comment. “Fearing the hotel staff who was torturing the kid, the parents did not tell us disclose anything and refused to file a complaint against the person,” said director of Childline Benudhar Senapati. Later, Childline member Ghanashyam Bhoi filed a complaint with Khandagiri police.
While the girl, currently, is in the custody of her parents, the district child protection unit and police have started an investigation. The Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights have also been intimated of the matter, sources added.