Cape Town - A mother has laid a charge of assault against a crèche teacher, who she accuses of hitting her 18-month-old child with a stick.
The 27-year-old Elsies River woman said her son seemed fine when she fetched him at the daycare in 24th Avenue, Elsies River, around 5pm on Monday.
But she was shocked when she saw “six cuts” on his legs while preparing for bath time.
The 49-year-old teacher admitted she hit the child on his hand “with a slipper” but is adamant she is not responsible for the bruises.
The mom said: “It could have been about 45 minutes after I fetched him when I was getting him ready for a bath and as I pulled down his pants, I saw the cuts on his legs. Half of the nappy covered the marks.
“I immediately went back to the crèche to speak to the principal.
“It was 6.30pm, the principal told us the teacher had already left and said we should come back the next morning.
“The next morning I asked the teacher about it. She told me she only hit my son with a slipper on his hand because he spilled his milk.
“But she said she never hit him with a stick and doesn’t know how the marks got there,” the mother said.
The mom did not believe the teacher and went to lay a charge of assault.
The boy has been at the crèche since he was seven months old, but the mom has since removed him and enrolled him at another facility.
The principal on Thursday said they “don’t use sticks” on the children.
“I feel very bad and we are sorry about what happened but I don’t think the teacher would do something like that,” she said.
“If something like that happened, he would have cried and I would have known about it.
“But we didn’t see him cry, I even cleaned him before he left and I didn’t notice anything.”
The creche teacher added: “I told the mother I hit him on his hand with the slipper but I did not cause the bruises.”
She believes the toddler may have injured himself.
“The boy just started walking so he could have fallen against the cots or something. I am a mother myself and I love children, I would never hit a child like that.”
Police spokesperson Constable Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed that a case of assault is being investigated, and no arrests have been made.
Daily Voice