Outcry in France as teacher is secretly filmed hitting a three-year-old in class then ‘spraying a liquid in the girl’s face’ as she screams ‘Mummy!’

A criminal investigation has been launched in France after a teacher was secretly filmed hitting a three-year-old girl at a Paris nursery school.

An unknown liquid was also reportedly sprayed into the child’s face as she screamed “Mama!”

The video, which was made public by a lawyer, has caused shock and outrage across the country.

The alleged attack took place on Tuesday, September 3, the first day of the academic year at Frères-Voisins [Brothers-Neighbours] school in the 15th arrondissement of the city.

The photo shows an unidentified female teacher standing over the screaming and crying child and then hitting her on the back, causing her to fall to the ground.

Vanessa Edberg, an attorney representing the girl’s parents who posted the video on Twitter X, said Tuesday: “It wasn’t a beating. She hit her on the back. What happened is extremely serious.”

An unidentified female teacher can be seen standing over the screaming and crying baby, before hitting her on the back, causing her to fall to the ground.

The teacher also allegedly grabbed a small bottle and “sprayed an unknown product on her face,” Edberg said.

Ms Edberg said the girl and the rest of her family were “extremely traumatised” and a complaint had been filed with police and the Public Prosecution Service.

She said the incident was secretly recorded by the mother of another child, who was in the classroom all day.

The girl’s father told the newspaper Le Parisien: ‘My daughter had been beaten before, that’s why she was in crisis and the mother who was there decided to film discreetly.’

After being hit, the little girl was sent to the corner and kept screaming, “Mama!”

After allegedly spraying the liquid, the teacher can be heard saying, “So, does that feel good there?”

The teacher also says to the girl, ‘You’ll see, your father will come back when I tell him.’

The parents were initially unaware of the video’s existence, but the woman who took the video gave it to them after two days.

It is also alleged that the teacher took a small bottle and ‘squirted an unknown product on her face’

The school (pictured) is located in the 15th arrondissement of Paris

Philippe Goujon, 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’

“We immediately filed a complaint,” said the father, who said his son was also “pushed by this teacher” two years ago when he was still in school.

The teacher was on “sick leave” on Tuesday awaiting police questioning, a school spokesperson said.

“The teacher acknowledged the facts and apologized to the family,” the spokesperson said.

In France, serious assault on a child under the age of 15 is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment.

Philippe Goujon, 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, with about 200 students, is located in a municipal district, he said. ‘It’s about a thousand homes, it’s a difficult neighborhood.’