WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
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These distressing images show two teachers caught on camera beating and mocking autistic children at a private nursery school in Russia in abuse that reportedly went on for a year.
The first piece of footage shows a teacher approaching a child who can be seen leaning against a wall before she suddenly hits a girl, who then holds her head in her hands. Another teacher then hits her around the head when some files.
The child can then be seen slumped by the wall.
The footage then cuts to a second incident during which the second teacher walks up to the child who can be seen cowering in fear as she anticipates what is coming next.
The teacher then hits her again with some files causing the child, who has not been named, to put her hands above her head and cower in fear again.
A second piece of footage shows a woman walking up to a second child and trying to make him drink some water. The young boy, who has not been named either, refuses, shaking his head, with the teacher then hitting him around the head.
When he still refuses to drink, she holds his head by his hair and forces the liquid down his throat.
She then tries to get the child to drink the water again. But the child shakes his head, so the teacher then picks him up by the scruff of his neck and pulls him away.
The footage then cuts to the same area in which the young girl was seen being attacked, with the young boy now seen recoiling as one of the teachers appears to threaten to hit him.
She then drags him to what appears to be a sleeping room where other children can be seen taking naps and settles him down on a sofa.
The child can be heard coughing with the teacher then appearing to smother him with a blanket as the footage ends.
The distressing images were reportedly filmed at a private nursery school in the Russian city of Sochi, which is a popular tourist destination on the Black Sea. The abuse is said to have gone on for a year, according to local media.
The abuse went on for so long because the children were unable to communicate to their parents what was happening to them, according to local media.
But one of the parents began to suspect something was wrong when her nine-year-old daughter began to cover herself with her hands as soon as anyone tried to touch her.
The girl’s mother, who has been named only as Alena, said that she and other parents demanded to view security footage from the nursery school. The bullying that the children suffered at the hands of their teachers is said to have been extensive.
The children’s parents reportedly filed a complaint with the police, who in turn opened a criminal investigation.
The press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory said in a statement: “The investigative department for the Khostinsky district of the city of Sochi of the ICR in the region initiated a criminal case against a 53-year-old teacher of a private nursery school, suspected of torturing a 9-year-old pupil (clause ‘d’ part 2 of article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).”
The statement also said: “She systematically struck the child with punches and kicks in various parts of the body. The suspect also hit the girl with a rag on the body and pulled her hair. At the same time, for the use of physical force against a minor, the woman gave minor reasons, such as disobedience.”
At the time of writing, only one of the teachers was the subject of criminal proceedings, but investigators are now looking into establishing all of the circumstances with a view to potentially prosecuting the other teachers as well.
The investigation is ongoing.
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