The parents of a two-year-old girl who was enrolled in a childcare centre have made a police report after they were horrified to find their daughter with bruises and cuts on her face.
Mr Eric Tang said his daughter had bruises on her cheeks and nose, cuts on her swollen lips and abrasion marks on her back when he and his wife picked her up from Candyland Infant and Childcare Centre in Ang Mo Kio on Monday. The 39-year-old engineer asked a supervisor there for closed-circuit television footage to find out what happened, but the centre had not installed a CCTV system.
Mr Tang said the supervisor suspected his daughter had been beaten up by a male classmate known to display aggressive behaviour, during nap time.
An hour later, he said he received a call from the same supervisor who changed her tune and suggested instead that his daughter had tripped and fallen on her own.
The couple took the girl to a clinic for a medical check-up. Mr Tang said the doctor told him that the injuries did not appear to be "accidental".
He then went to a police station that night to make a report.
"It is not logical that a fellow toddler is capable of such abuse. Look at the extent of her injuries," said Mr Tang. He later took his daughter for a second medical examination at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
A spokesman for the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said the agency is investigating the incident. "The safety and well-being of our children are of utmost importance. We are aware of the incident at Candyland Infant and Childcare Centre. ECDA is working closely with the centre to ensure that proper child management and supervision guidelines are adhered to."
A Candyland director, Mr Harry Su, said the centre is resuming its investigation only today as it had been closed on the first two days of this month.
"There should have been a teacher around, but we are not sure if the kids were supervised then," said Mr Su. He said the parents of the aggressive boy have withdrawn their child from the centre.
Mr Tang also has another child, the girl's twin brother, enrolled at the centre. He has taken both children out of the centre.
"They should have informed us immediately when it happened so that medical attention could be given promptly," he said. "Supervision at all times and installing CCTV for security are all the basics that childcare centres ought to have."
In July last year, a childcare teacher from NTUC My First Skool in Toa Payoh was arrested after shocking footage showed her apparently dragging a three-year-old boy across the floor and pushing him to the ground. The Straits Times understands that the 51-year-old teacher is out on bail. Police said investigations are still ongoing.
