By IANS,
Lucknow: A woman was arrested Wednesday and a search was on for her husband after they allegedly held a six-year-old Dalit girl hostage for the past six months and tortured her, police said.
The matter came to light Sunday when police raided their home on a complaint by the girl’s mother and rescued her.
“We were shocked to see the condition of the girl who had injuries and bruises all over her body. She could hardly walk,” Paresh Pandey, superintendent of police (Trans Gomti), told reporters.
The husband, Rajiv Verma, a music teacher in a private school, was arrested the same day (Sunday) and sent to jail. However, he was out on bail now and police Wednesday secured an arrest warrant against him.
His wife Rekha was arrested Wednesday.
The couple had taken the girl, identified as Shivdevi, from her parents, promising to arrange for her education.
“However, they engaged her in taking care of their infant child and when she failed to do this, they started torturing Shivdevi,” inspector Vinay Gautam of Gomti Nagar police station told IANS.
They did not allow Shivdevi to meet her parents during the past six months.
“While her father Maujilal is a rickshaw puller, her mother is a labourer,” Gautam added.
According to police, the child told them that “when I could not do (baby-sitting), they started beating me and even gave me electric shocks”.
She said they even put a heated pressure cooker on her head resulting in deap bruises and hair loss.
“The girl was not even fed properly and is suffering from malnutrition. She has serious injuries on her head, legs, knees, hands and face,” Pandey added.