Assaulted maid loses battle for life after 16 days

She fought a gruelling battle for sixteen days, while her mother from the adivasi Santhal tribe of Malda, travelled over a thousand kilometre on empty stomach to see her daughter. 

But fate had something else planned for the domestic maid, who was assaulted with iron rods by her employer in Mukherjee Nagar. The rhythmic pulse of her heart turned into a flat line on the electrocardiogram as the doctors declared her dead.

Her mother, who had travelled with a packet of biscuits and Rs 300, had been saving up on the money just in case her daughter needed it. “I want to take her back to Malda with me. It had been three whole years since I saw her. I also want to make sure that other people in my village know more about trafficking as I don’t want them to face the same fate.” 

The mother had held her daughter’s head several times and wept as she wanted to see her playing again in Malda. After she passed away, she had nothing more to say.

The domestic help was admitted on December 19 with severe injuries as she was assaulted by her employer. She was initially trafficked from her native place by a notorious trafficker Mariam Singh, who convinced her  family that her daughter would be taken care of.

The medical report of the domestic maid has painted a grim picture of what had befallen on the young girl.  According to the report, she had multiple fractures (fracture of right illac crest, fracture of bilateral transverse processes of L3 and L4 vertebrae, comminuted fracture of greater and lesser trochanter of left femur, fracture of distal end of left radius, fracture left radius). The girl was also suffering from Sepsis, Dyselectrolytemia and severe anaemia.

Now, the girl will return to Malda but broken and lifeless with her ailing mother and aunt. The NGO, Shaktivahini, will ensure that the West Bengal government takes the body back to Malda.

“The government has taken a good step to take the body back to West Bengal. The girl, who belongs to the adivasi tribe was brutally beaten up. Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should also be added in the case,” said Ravikant, social activist from Shaktivahini.