Mumbai, Jan. 28: A 12-year-old girl from Bengal employed as a domestic help was rescued by an NGO after she ran away from an Andheri household where she was allegedly raped and tortured repeatedly.

Her employer Shaukat Noor Mohammad, a former badminton player, was arrested yesterday and charged under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (threat) of the Indian Penal Code.

Oshiwara police said Shaukat did work related to income-tax. It is not clear if he worked for the income-tax department, they said.

Shaukat was produced in the Bandra holiday court today and remanded in police custody till February 3.

The girl is now in a Dongri home under the Child Welfare Committee.

The NGO, Mumbai Domestic Workers’ Welfare Association, said Sakina (name changed) was one of the many girls being trafficked into Mumbai from Bengal.

“One of our field workers found her crying in Adarshnagar,” said Selvyn Mary, who heads the organisation. “She ran away on January 23 from her employer’s residence, flat No. 418, M-Wing, Tarapur Towers, Oshiwara, after suffering repeated sexual assault.

“On the night of January 22, too, she was sexually abused. Shaukat threatened that he would beat her if she informed anyone,” said Mary.

He would assault her when his wife was not present. She worked as an air-hostess and would be away for days. The couple has two children, who live with them.

“He also constantly checked whether the child was menstruating regularly. On two occasions, when Sakina informed him that she was not, he forced her to take some tablets, which seem to be pills for abortion,” said Mary.

“Sakina was also beaten on several occasions, with objects like rolling pins, leather belts and chappals. She has a scar on her right shoulder, which is the result of a severe beating,” Mary said.

The NGO says Sakina was brought here as part of an organised trafficking network operating from Bengal. Her parents, two sisters and a brother stay in Bengal.

Sakina told the police that she was brought to Mumbai by “Meena Mami”, who goes back and forth between Mumbai and Bengal to bring groups of girls here. She said her father gave her over to “Meena Mami” to work in Mumbai.

Mary said the organisation was happy to come to the rescue of Sakina, but this is just one of the numerous scarred lives of the children who work as domestic help. “There are at least 45,000 children working in Mumbai alone,” she said, out of which 90 per cent are girls.