Teacher in Vietnam under fire for sitting on toddler, smacking and forcing him to eat oranges

A Vietnamese kindergarten teacher has earned the ire of netizens and parents alike after footage of her smacking and forcing a toddler to eat began spreading on social media, multiple Vietnamese media outlets reported in April.

The teacher, Lam Thi Bach Nga, also reportedly owns the kindergarten, Ti Bo.

The clip, which began circulating on social media on April 23, shows the teacher sitting on a boy who's lying on the floor, face-up.

She then forces the five-year-old to eat oranges, which she holds in her hand.

Another video also shows the teacher shoving a boy into a corner of the room, hitting him multiple times.

The teacher's misdeeds were caught on security camera footage on April 11, according to South China Morning Post on May 18.

Speaking to Vietnamese publication Nguoi Lao Dong, Thanh Hong, the mother of the five-year-old child said that she was "shocked" at the abuse her child had taken.

"If a child is mischievous, it's normal to just slap their hand," she said.

"I was shocked and felt so upset that I burst into tears when I found out that one of the children in the video clips was my child," she added. "He wasn't lightly beaten as Nga had said but abused."

Hong also recalled how she was promised that the teachers there would never beat children - yet her child was beaten by the same woman who had made that promise.

Although her son's physical health has gotten better, his mental health has yet to fully recover.

She explained: "He often cries in his sleep."

Kindergarten operations suspended

On the morning of April 24, Nga admitted to her wrongdoings and accepted responsibility for the violations she committed, Vietnamese publication Tuoi Tre reported that day.

She had tried to compensate the involved families, but an agreement was not reached.

The local authority has since ordered the kindergarten to suspend its operations beginning on April 25, Vietnamese publication Thanh Nien reported. 

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khooyihang@asiaone.com