A kindergarten caretaker who’s become an object of national scorn for her serial abuse of small children is suing two parents for physically retaliating against her as civil cases against the school move forward.
Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School parents this morning filed a class-action suit against the school with the attorney-general, a day after Ornuma “Teacher Joom” Plodprong filed a complaint against two parents of a child she admits to abusing after they kicked and slapped her at a meeting.
Ornuma told reporters that she has apologized to all parents, students and admins of the Sarasas chain of schools and feels very guilty for assaulting the children (she blames “stress”). Still, she said that the law compelled her to take legal action against Chanwit Noisuekying, 37, and his unidentified wife after they took some revenge and roughed her up late last month.
More child abuse scenes spill from Bangkok school as owner dares officials to shut him down
One of numerous clips showing Ornuma violently abusing children shows her pulling the ear of the couple’s child, identified as “Seu,” as he reads a book. At the Sept. 25 meeting where parents were shown security footage of Ornuma’s frequent abuses, the couple struck Ornuma several times as she sat at a table, which was partially caught about 18 minutes into a livestream video.
Clip after clip has emerged in the past week showing callous and casual eruptions of traumatic violence perpetrated against the kindergarteners by Ornuma. She slams their heads into walls and shoves them face-first down into the floor after ordering them to walk away. Since the first leaked clip of Sept. 25 showing Ornuma slap a child on the head so hard he falls to the ground, pulling one’s hair and pinching another’s ear, a slew of clips have followed of her and other teachers assaulting children, prompting a wider examination of physical punishment at Thai schools.
The suit organized by the parents seeks financial damages from the school.
Ornuma and the school are both represented by attorney Decha Kittiwitthayanun in the growing number of complaints. He said more than 30 cases have emerged and 13 teachers are suspected of abusing children at the school. He said the legal process must be allowed to run its course.
The scandal has been exacerbated by the school’s owner, who last week taunted officials threatening to shut down his schools and bragged about his questionable educational methods.
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More child abuse scenes spill from Bangkok school as owner dares officials to shut him down
