By IANS,
New Delhi : Appalled by the sorry state of a minor girl who has been working as a domestic help for the last one year and is regularly beaten up by her employer, an NGO has written to the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) for help.
Parinita (name changed), a 15-year-old from West Bengal, was brought to Delhi by her aunt a year back to work in the capital and help her family financially. Through a placement agency, she was employed by a well-to-do family in west Delhi.
What followed soon after was sheer torture for the hapless girl.
“My employers used to beat me up regularly, and on the slightest pretext. If I am starving and eat something, memsaab (employer’s wife) used to hit me with the belan (rolling pin), if they think that I am working slow they will slap me… the reasons were endless. Memsaab used to stand close by when I spoke to my aunt on phone so that I don’t reveal anything and she didn’t allow me to even step out of the house,” Parinita, with bruises all over her body, told IANS.
Unable to bear the cries of the girl, the family’s neighbours finally called 100 and sought police intervention Feb 3.
The police thereafter admitted the girl at the Sanjay Gandhi hospital where she underwent treatment.
“Problems arose when the cops at the Paschim Vihar police station refused to lodge an FIR. They said the girl could be hurt by falling down the stairs despite the poor kid crying inconsolably with bruises all over her body. They now say they are investigating the matter,” said Umesh Gupta of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), the NGO helping the girl.
BBA wrote to the DCW asking them to intervene and asked the police to lodge a case against the girl’s employers as well as the placement agency which illegally placed a minor to work.
According to Parinita, except for the first two months, she was not even paid for her work.
“We sent a letter to the DCW today (Wednesday) asking them to intervene and set a precedent that such acts are not repeated,” Gupta said.
Parinita is living with her aunt after being discharged from the hospital.
“My employers had come to see me in the hospital once or twice and threatened that along with them, I and my parents will also get dragged into a messy situation. But I am not going to get scared anymore,” she said.