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A criminal enquiry has been launched in France after a teacher was secretly filmed hitting a three-year-old girl in a Paris nursery school.
It is also alleged that an unidentified liquid was sprayed in the little child’s face as she screamed ‘mummy!’.
The video – which has been made public by a lawyer – has caused shock and outrage across the country.
The alleged assault happened last Tuesday, September 3, on the first day of the academic year at the Frères-Voisins [Brothers-Neighbours] school in the 15th arrondissement of the city.
An unidentified female teacher can be seen standing over the screaming and crying infant before hitting her on the back, and causing her to fall to the floor.
Vanessa Edberg, a lawyer representing the girl’s parents who posted the film on Twitter X, said on Tuesday: ‘It wasn’t a spanking. She hit her on the back. What happened is extremely serious.’
The alleged assault happened last Tuesday, September 3, on the first day of the academic year at the Frères-Voisins [Brothers-Neighbours] school
An unidentified female teacher can be seen standing over the screaming and crying infant before hitting her on the back, and causing her to fall to the floor
It is also alleged that the teacher grabbed a small bottle and ‘sprayed an unidentified product on her face,’ Ms Edberg added.
Saying that the girl and the rest of her family were ‘extremely traumatised,’ Ms Edberg said a complaint had been sent to police and prosecutors.
She said the incident was secretely recorded by another child’s mother, who was in the classroom for the whole of the day.
The girl’s father told Le Parisien newspaper: ‘My daughter had been hit before, that’s why she was having a crisis and the mother who was there decided to film discreetly.’
After receiving the blow, the little girl was sent to the corner and continued to scream ‘Mummy!’.
After the alleged spraying of liquid, the teacher can be heard saying: ‘There, does that feel good there?’
The teacher also tells the girl: ‘You’ll see, your dad will come back when I tell him.’
The parents did not know about the video to begin with, but the woman who shot it handed it over after two days.
It is also alleged that the teacher grabbed a small bottle and ‘sprayed an unidentified product on her face’
The school (pictured) lies in Paris’ 15th arrondissement
‘We went straight to file a complaint,’ said the father, who said his son had also been ‘pushed by this teacher’ when he was at the school two years ago.
The teacher was on Tuesday said to be ‘on sick leave’ while waiting to be interviewed by law and order authorities, said a school spokesman.
‘The teacher acknowledged the facts and apologised to the family,’ said the spokesman.
Aggravated assault on a child under 15 is an imprisonable offence in France.
Philippe Goujon, the Mayor of the 15th arrondissement in Paris, said: ‘This happened the day after the start of the school year. The teacher was arrested and immediately replaced.’
The school, which has around 200 students, is on a council estate, he said, adding: ‘We’re talking about a thousand homes, it’s a difficult neighborhood.’