Al Arabiya — A video showing a worker at a daycare center in Lebanon hitting a toddler and an infant drew anger from Lebanese citizens calling on the state to take action against both the worker and the center. The disturbing video, which was widely circulated on social media platforms on Monday, showed the worker at the center in Metn’s Jdeideh area feeding a child who then spit the food before she violently hit him on the head and forced him back into his seat. The other part of the video showed the worker forcibly feeding and hitting an infant as the baby was laying down. In one segment, the worker was also seen terrorizing a child who appeared to be scared of the women.
The video drew much anger from Lebanese social media users who requested a severe punishment against those involved in the abuse of the children with some calling for individual action to be taken. “God be with the parents seeing this,” one user said. “How could someone be that much cruel and inhumane. This daycare and the staff deserve a punishment that will remain an example for anyone who dares to do such thing to children or elderly people. It’s heartbreaking,” another user said on Instagram. According to local media reports, parents of the children who were subjected to the abuse traveled to the worker’s house and assaulted her in retaliation.
Local media reported that the judiciary took a decision to shut down the daycare center while Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) issued a statement after the video went viral saying that “an investigation into the matter was opened.”