NEW DELHI: “She put a polythene bag over my head and tied my hands at the back with the leash of her pet dog. My feet were tied with a scarf. When I started suffocating, she removed the bag and started beating me with a rolling pin” — this is the horrifying account of the 13-year-old domestic
help who jumped off the 11th floor to escape the inhuman treatment meted out by her employer in Faridabad.
The accused, Sneha, is herself in the early twenties and is pursuing B Tech from a private university.
The teen, rescued on Wednesday, shared her trauma with members of the Child Welfare Committee (
CWC) and the Haryana State Child Rights Commission.
CWC issued orders to put the girl under immediate medical care. Bal Krishan Goel, member of the Haryana Child Rights Commission, directed the deputy commissioner of the district to set up an inquiry committee and submit a report within five days. He said, “The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked me to inquire into the case and submit a report to them. I have met the girl and recorded her statement.”
On Friday, the police firmed up the FIR by adding more stringent sections against the accused pertaining to assault under IPC and cruelty under the JJ Act. Section 18 of the Bonded labour Act was also added to the case as the girl’s statement clearly shows she was not paid any wages.
In her statement, the survivor narrated how once her employer poured hot water on her back. She is learnt to have told CWC and the State Child Rights Commission that she wants justice and
punishment for the employer who she still refers to as “didi”.
TOI had reported on Friday that the girl’s frail body was marked by deep gashes, scratches, wounds on the head and burn marks on the back. The accused lives in a rented flat at Kanishka Towers, a gated society where the girl was subjected to abuse.
In bondage for domestic work for nearly three years, she finally broke after receiving a beating at night. On Wednesday morning, she jumped off the balcony of the apartment on the 11th floor. She had hoped to land on the parapet below and make it to the balcony of a neighbour, and to freedom. Instead, she fell into the balcony below. She lay there, semi-conscious, from 9am till after 4pm.