A 16-year-old girl was rescued from a house in southeast Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh after she was allegedly forced to work for nearly 20 hours a day, repeatedly burnt with a hot iron and deprived of food and water for days, police said.
The girl, a resident of Shram Vihar Jhuggi in Shaheen Bagh, was working as a domestic help at a house in Abul Fazal Enclave-II. She had allegedly been kept away from her parents for nearly a year.
According to police, the Association for Voluntary Action, an NGO, approached them with a complaint that a minor girl was being employed as a domestic worker in the area. Following directions from the Kalkaji sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), a joint rescue operation involving the Labour Department, Delhi Police and NGO representatives was conducted on November 3 and 4.
The girl was rescued from the house where she was allegedly employed by a woman identified as Sadaf.
Girl Allegedly Worked from 6 am to 2 am
In her statement, the girl told authorities that she was made to work from 6 am to 2 am, carrying out household chores such as sweeping, mopping, washing utensils and cleaning.
She said she was given tea at around 11 am and was often served leftover food.
The girl also alleged that her employer repeatedly burnt her back, hands and hips with a hot iron and wounded her with a heated knife. The NGO said several injuries and old scars were found on her body, including burn marks on her back and deep wounds on her head.
She further alleged that she was once denied food and water for three days and beaten over minor mistakes. Instead of being taken to a doctor, she was given medicines bought from a medical store.
Parents Allowed Only Limited Contact
Police said the girl was allegedly prevented from meeting her parents, who were allowed to speak to her over the phone only two or three times in nearly a year.
The NGO claimed that during these calls, the girl’s face was covered so her parents could not see her injuries.
The girl was initially too frightened to speak to officials because she had allegedly been threatened with death if she disclosed the abuse. She later narrated her experience before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
Her statement was recorded before a magistrate, and the CWC directed that she be admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for treatment.
The SDM directed the Shaheen Bagh police station to register a case under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. No arrests had been made at the time of reporting.
The NGO said another woman had placed the girl in the household and that she was paid only Rs 18,000 for nearly a year of work.
The girl told the CWC that she wanted to resume her studies and become a teacher. The allegations are under investigation.
