Ctrip apologizes for child abuse in day care center

The top management of Ctrip, an online provider of travel services, apologized for the child abuse cases in the company's in-house day care center and promised to continue assisting the police in investigating the case.

"On behalf of the company, I extend my sincere apologies to the involved families and children," said Sun Jie, CEO of Ctrip.

"The company will take full responsibility and provide physical examination and psychological intervention for the children and their families," said Sun.

"Ctrip will also further strengthen the supervision of the day care center."

According to Sun, Ctrip has set up an investigation team, which includes representatives of parents and her, and it plans to see all the surveillance footage in the day care center within three months.

A video of the child abuse in the center went viral on Nov 6.

The teachers were videotaped putting on or taking off the children's clothes violently.

Some children even fell down and bumped their head on the corner of a table.

Some children were forced to swallow items which later turned out to be mustard, and they couldn't stop crying.

Ctrip called the police on Nov 7. According to the investigation, the children involved in the case are from 18 to 24 months old.

The staff members involved in the matter includes a cleaner dressed in yellow, a child-care worker and the teacher in charge of the class. The head of the day care center is also accused of dereliction of duty.

These four people involved in the case have been taken to the Beixinjing police station in Shanghai for further investigation and Ctrip has cancelled their contracts.

All classes in the kindergarten have been suspended.

Ctrip is always helping its employees to balance their work and family, the company said. The establishment of the day care center was aimed at solving the babysitting problems for the staff members, which gained support from Shanghai government.