A nursery teacher has been taken into police custody after shocking footage emerged showing her hitting a three-year-old child.
The unidentified female teacher was initially suspended for four months after striking a young girl at the Frères-Voisins School in Paris.
The video sparked outrage as the child fell to the ground.
Lawyer Vanessa Edberg, representing the parents, stated: "It wasn't a spanking. She hit her on the back. What happened is extremely serious."
The footage was described as "extremely serious"
TWITTERThe incident took place on the first day of term, with the footage secretly recorded by another child's mother who was present in the classroom.
The girl's father told Le Parisien: "My daughter had been hit before, that's why she was having a crisis and the mother who was there decided to film discreetly."
Following the assault, the child was sent to the corner, crying for her mother.
The teacher was heard making unsettling remarks, including: "There, does that feel good there?" and "You'll see, your dad will come back when I tell him."
The video was handed over to the parents two days after the incident, prompting them to file a complaint immediately.
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The Paris school at the heart of the scandal
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The father also revealed that his son had been "pushed by this teacher" two years prior at the same school.
The controversy deepened when a second parent, Djankinba Bangoura, came forward with allegations dating back to 2012.
Bangoura claimed the same teacher had slapped her son, then aged four, during his time at nursery school.
Speaking to French news channel BFMTV, Bangoura recounted: "When he started nursery school, he was happy because he was very alert.
"But after six months, after the school holidays, I asked him if he was happy to go back to school. He told me 'yes to meet up with friends, but not the teacher'."
Bangoura said she confronted the teacher and spoke to the headmistress at the time.
However, the school reportedly stood behind the teacher, suggesting the child "may have seen it in a book" and was "making it up".
The controversy deepened when a second parent, Djankinba Bangoura, came forward with allegations dating back to 2012
BFM TV
Despite reporting the incident, Bangoura claims the subsequent investigation yielded no results.
The teacher has now been taken into police custody following Bangoura's complaint filed on Friday.
French police have said that the teacher was summoned after Bangoura alleged she had "slapped her infant son "hard" in 2012.
The accused teacher reportedly "deeply regrets" her actions.
However, her lawyer notes there was "no criminal complaint" regarding the 2012 incident and that the report "did not lead to anything".
The lawyer also argued: "There was no internal administrative investigation."
The teacher is expected to be interviewed about her conduct soon, as authorities investigate both the recent video and the newly surfaced allegations from 2012.
