By Anukriti Roy
First publised on 2022-02-08 03:26:05
In a shocking and grisly incident, police in Surat have arrested a babysitter for torturing and causing grievous injuries to an eight-month old infant she was employed to look after. The parents had employed Komal Chandlekar as she was the wife of a friend of the infant's father. But the cruel and heartless way she treated the child was demonic. She was caught on camera torturing and slamming the infant's head on the mattress. The child is in a critical condition in ICU with serious injuries on the head and other body parts.
What could an eight-months-old infant have done to bring out the beast in the babysitter? Her behavior was inexplicable. Her actions showed that she wanted to kill the child. She must have taken up the job either because she liked babysitting or needed the money. In any case, she was expected to do justice to the trust reposed in her by the parents of the infant. Also, was she not afraid of being punished when caught? How could she do what she did if she was in her senses?
Of course this incident is an aberration, at least in India. There are thousands of babysitters who take good care of their wards. But it will scare parents and working couples will now be extra careful when hiring babysitters. Most working couples like in-house, full-time nannies or day-time babysitters as dropping and picking up infants from crèches is a big pain in cities because of time constraints, traffic snarls and parking woes. But if babysitters cannot be trusted then it will make life difficult for working couples with infants. Of course parents can install CCTV cameras and keep real time watch on their mobile phones like the Surat couple did after they were informed about neighbours that their children cried in their absence. That, God willing, might still save the child as they were able to take prompt action.