Domestic help subjected to torture, agencies raided

A 24-year-old girl who works as a domestic help has been allegedly assaulted by iron rods and subjected to extreme torture by her employer in Mukherjee Nagar. The girl has also alleged that she was not paid wages for the past two years. The girl is undergoing treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. The cops have registered a case based on her complaint.

The girl was brought to Delhi from West Bengal two years ago by a placement agency and was early this year placed in a house in Mukherjee Nagar by another placement agency.

The DCW chief Swati Maliwal too paid a visit to the victim in the hospital. While speaking to the Maliwal, the victim informed that she had been beaten mercilessly at the home of her employer. She was brought to hospital by the owner of the second placement agency.

An FIR has been registered by the Delhi Police in the case. The placement agencies were raided and the employer was detained along with the placement agencies’ owners by the cops taking immediate action.

However, sources say that the girl left the job on December 16 and was admitted in the hospital on December 19. So the cops are investigating the case so as to know why the complaint was not registered earlier and why did the girl not approach police the day she left the job after allegedly being thrashed by the employer.

“We have registered a case under proper sections and have raided the placement agencies. We have detained the employer. However, true facts could only be revealed after the investigation is complete,” said DCP North-west Milind Dumbre.

The parents of the girl have been contacted by the Delhi Police who are on their way from West Bengal. Delhi Police are also working towards recording the statements of the girl under Section 164 CrPc in the hospital itself. The girl also informed Maliwal that she has not been paid a single rupee for the past two years. The Chairperson, has initiated the process of recovery of her wages.

Swati Maliwal stated: “Hundreds of placement agencies are operating illegally in Delhi and several times act as trafficking agents. The government should pass a law to regulate them and prescribe punishments for the defaulters. The Labor Department should regularly monitor the placement agencies.”