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Prosecutors specializing in crimes against children in Shanghai's Changning district have taken up a case of child abuse that allegedly took place at the in-house day care center of Ctrip, a major online travel agency.
Video footage of staff abusing children appeared online on Monday to public outcry.
One clip showed a female staff member throwing a little girl's schoolbag on the floor and pushing her violently, causing her to fall and hit her head on the corner of a table.
In another video, a child cried after being forced to eat something that his parents later claimed to be mustard.
According to the police, the children involved are between 18 and 24 months old.
Three suspects — a custodian, a day care worker and the teacher in charge of the class — have been detained and charged with child abuse. A fourth person, the head of the center, is being charged with dereliction of duty.
The top management of Ctrip, apologized on Wednesday, for the event and promised to continue assisting the police in investigating the case.
"On behalf of the company, I extend my sincere apologies to the involved families and children," said Sun Jie, CEO of Ctrip.
"The company will take full responsibility and provide physical examination and psychological intervention for the children and their families," said Sun.
"Ctrip will also further strengthen the supervision of the day care center."
According to Sun, Ctrip has set up an investigation team, which includes representatives of parents and her, and it plans to see all the surveillance footage in the day care center within three months.
All classes at the center were suspended on Thursday.
Operations at the center are managed by a company called Modern Family Magazine, Ctrip said.
The Shanghai Women's Federation, which is a shareholder in the company and a direct supervisor, announced on social media on Thursday that the four suspects have been fired. It also apologized to the families of the affected children.
The case provoked public shock, anger and discussion.
More than 18.7 million netizens joined an online discussion group on Sina Weibo to comment on the case.
While condemning the suspects involved, some netizens said they thought supervision of the child care center was lax. Others questioned whether the day care staff and others were sufficiently qualified to take care of children. Many saw regulatory and supervisory negligence as the main problem.
A comment from one netizen was popular: "We want justice for the victims and protection for children in day care."
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Sources: chinadaily.com.cn, Xinhua
