Delhi: police rescue 13-year-old abused maid

A 13-year-old girl was rescued by police on Monday afternoon from a house in south Delhi’s Netaji Nagar, where she was tortured and locked up by her employer, an air hostess.

The incident brought back chilling memories of a similar rescue of an 18-year-old girl from a flat in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area just a few weeks ago. The girl had suffered horrific torture by her employer, who was later arrested.

Police said that the girl rescued on Tuesday was regularly beaten with a leather belt by the air hostess and locked up in the house.

Incidentally, both the rescued girl and her employer hail from the northeastern state of Manipur.

Children from economically weaker sections in Manipur are often trafficked to different parts of the country, mainly to be employed as domestic helps and sometimes pushed into the flesh trade. In March this year, as many as 55 children – both boys and girls – were rescued from an illegal children’s home in Jaipur in Rajasthan. Most of the children were from Manipur and a few from neighbouring Nagaland.

The girl herself made a call to Delhi Police control room on Monday afternoon. “We received a call at 3:25 pm and rushed to the house. The girl somehow managed to come out and make the call. There are visible injury marks on her body. We called NGO members to counsel her,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity.

Initial investigation doesn’t hint at trafficking. Police said  the minor girl was brought by the employer’s sister from a village in Manipur. The employer, a 22-year-old woman, is working with Indian Airlines. The girl was living in the house for the past two years.

“The girl narrated the tale of trauma to the counselor. In her statement she told that the woman often beat her up with a belt and sometimes even smashed her head on the wall. Also, most of the time she would travel out of the city and keep her locked inside the house,” the officer added.

Police sources said that the woman was out of town and was expected to return within three days when they would question her.

A case under Juvenile Justice Act and IPC has been registered at the Sarojini Nagar police station. Medical examination of the girl was conducted before she was produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) where her statement was recorded.