1st LD-Writethru: 5 suspects arrested after Shanghai day care abuse

SHANGHAI, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Five former workers at a Shanghai day care center were arrested on the charge of child abuse Wednesday, local prosecutors said.

The suspects have been in detention since the case was reported to the police on Nov. 8.

The suspects were caught on camera in a Ctrip day care center, appearing to abuse young children, Changning district people's procuratorate said

Leading travel agency Ctrip established the center, run by a third-party organization, in 2016 to help employees with childcare for children under three years old, the minimum age for kindergartens.

The district people's procuratorate has dispatched prosecutors specializing in child criminal cases to assist the police in the investigation, promising to safeguard the legal rights of the minors involved.

Video footage showing carers abusing children went viral online, leading to an intense public outcry. One clip showed a female employee throwing a 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, which his parents later claimed was wasabi.

In early 2016, Shanghai magazine "Modern Family" signed a contract with Ctrip to run the day care center. It later subcontracted the center to a third-party organization, but controlled financial affairs of the center.

The Women's Federation of Shanghai, to which the magazine is affiliated, apologized to the public for a "lack of supervision and management." The president of the magazine was fired.

Ctrip has sought new management for the center and said it would allow employees to see surveillance video of classrooms on their mobile phones in the future. Enditem