Kharghar creche fallout: Top cop cracks down on child day care centres

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai police commissioner, using his discretionary powers, on Friday issued a notification instructing all child care centres to implement several precautionary measures after a 10-month-old girl was severely thrashed by a caretaker at a day care centre in Kharghar.
Police commissioner Hemant Nagrale said, “It has been made compulsory for all establishments of child day care centres to install CCTV cameras on their premises.The CCTV cameras should be Internet Protocol (IP) address-enabled and with a provision of at least 30 days back up of the CCTV footage. The CCTV camera’s user ID should be linked to the computer system or mobile phones of the parents of the children so that they have direct access to the recordings. Simultaneously, the centre’s authorized person should check the CCTV camera recording every 24 hours and if any objectionable content is observed, it should be brought to the notice of the local police station.”
The circular was issued under the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 under section 144 (2) which empowers the police chief to take necessary steps in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger. “All authorized persons of crèches, play schools, child day care centres should get the police verification done for the character certificate of their staff within 90 days of issuing of this notice, which should be noted in the registers at the centres. Even the in-time and out-time of the child at the centre should be maintained and the acknowledgement of parents obtained at the time of handing over their child. Those not abiding the directive will face action as per the provisions of the law,” Nagrale added.
All private play schools, creches, child day care centres and individuals baby-sitting in residential premises will have to implement the measures.
DCP (zone-2) Vishwas Pandhare said, “As per the police chief’s order under CrPC Section 144 (2), we have asked all police stations to collect data of crèches and play schools and serve them the notice to ensure they implement the measures. It may take around a week to compile the data.” DCP (zone-1) Prashant Khaire said, “The patrolling police teams and beat marshal cops will collect information on the number of crèches and play schools functioning in their respective jurisdictions. It is possible we may miss some individuals who privately operate baby-sitting centres at their residence. Hence, it is advised that all citizens should cooperate with the police and provide information to their local police stations.”
Meanwhile, as the Kharghar crèche owner Priyanka Nikam (34) was released on bail, police have sought a court order to revoke the bail. Attempt to murder charges had been invoked against Nikam and the caretaker Afsana Shaikh (30), who is currently in Adharwadi jail for women in Kalyan.
Senior inspector Dilip Kale said, “The accused, crèche owner Nikam, is currently not reachable since her crèche as well as her Kharghar residence are locked. We have pasted the court’s showcause notice at both places asking why her bail should not be revoked. Nikam and her husband have probably left for their native place in Kolhapur. We have summoned her father who lives in Kamothe, to inquire about her whereabouts.” Inspector Kale added, “We have also sought police custody of Shaikh to interrogate her as the victim’s mother has raised concerns she might be feeding sedatives to the kids at the crèche to force them to sleep.”