Silent slaves behind closed doors: Cases of violence against domestic help

Here’s a look at the recent cases where the domestic maids were subjected to brutal torture and harassment

November 2013: 35-year-old domestic help,Rakhi,was found dead with grievous injury marks at BSP MP Dhananjay Singh’s bunglow in New Delhi’s South Avenue. A 17-year-old boy,who works at the MP’s residence,and is an eyewitness,told police that for three days,Rakhi was mercilessly assaulted with iron rods and antelopes’ horns. Rakhi’s body had brutal injuries on the chest,back,hands,legs and burn injuries on her stomach,police said. She reportedly died on Monday morning. Jagriti was arrested on charges of murder, while Dhananjay was charged with destroying evidence.

October 2013: A 12-year-old girl was illegally confined,tortured and harassed by her employer,an Air India air hostess. The girl from Senapati district in Manipur escaped from the apartment in Delhi’s Netaji Nagar. Narrating her plight,she told the police she was assaulted with a belt and that her employer used to scare her with a dog. The girl had bruises on her face and hands at the time she escaped using a ladder. She claimed that her employer would slap her,even slam her head against the wall if she found her asleep or resting.

October 2013: A 15-year-old girl from Jharkhand,working as a domestic help in a Vasant Kunj home was rescued and admitted to a hospital with knife injuries. According to police,the girl was badly beaten and was confined in the house in a semi-naked condition by her 50-year-old woman employer,Vandana Dheer. The girl claimed that her nails were pulled out and that she was often beaten with a hot pan. In her statement,the girl said she was forced to drink her urine by her employer.

July 2013: An MBBS doctor and his wife,along with their servant,were arrested for allegedly harassing their 22-year-old domestic help for the past two months at Lucknow’s Mahanagar area. Lalita,a resident of Bahraich,who worked as a domestic help in the doctor’s resident,said in her complaint to police,that the couple used to beat her,burn her with cigarette butts,and forcibly chop her hair. They also reportedly harassed her,saying she had mistreated their puppy. 

December 2012: A minor girl,who was allegedly tortured by her employer,was rescued from Odisha’s Bhadrak district. According to police complaint,the 13-year-old girl,who was working as a maid in one Babaji Charana Padhi’s house,was subjected to physical and mental torture by her employer. Padhi was forcing the girl to clean the utensils of 20 dogs and their defecation. She was forced to sleep in the verandah without any bed and the employer used to mercilessly beat her up. 

May 2012: A software engineer was arrested on charges of torturing her maid while police rescued two other domestic helps who were allegedly held captive,made to work without wages and beaten up by a PG accommodation owner in Noida. 14-year-old Munni,who was hired as domestic help through a placement agency by Meenakshi Singh,alleged that she was beaten up by her employer over minor mistakes. Singh,a software engineer with a private company and resident of Sector 62 Swagat Apartment,and her husband would also lock her in a room and leave her starving as punishment,she alleged.