A man cried foul play following the sudden death of his 12-year-old daughter working as a domestic help in an apartment in an upscale locality, prompting police to start a probe.

The victim's father, Lal Bahadur Mistri, alleged that his daughter was brutally assaulted and subjected to harassment by her employer Geeta, a resident of flat No. 508 of Nilambar Apartment in Buddha Colony. The police said Mistri recorded his statement at Ariari police station in Sheikhpura district, where he hails from.

Mistri told the police that Geeta, who also belongs to Sheikhpura district, told him over phone on Tuesday that his daughter had caught a cold and had been subsequently admitted to a hospital for treatment. 'When I reached the hospital, I found my daughter dead,' he said.

He immediately left with his daughter's body for his native village Sohdi in Sheikhpura district and lodged a complaint with the Ariari police station.

'Her body had bruises and marks of injury,' he claimed.

Sheikhpura superintendent of police (SP) Naveen Chandra Jha said a post-mortem was conducted on the request of the girl's father. Jha added that the statement of the girl's father had been recorded and sent to the Patna police for further investigation.

SP Jha clarified that the matter had been referred to the Patna police because the place of occurrence was under the jurisdiction of the Buddha Colony police station in the city.

'The autopsy report would throw more light on the cause of the girl's death. The report is awaited,' he told The Telegraph over phone from Sheikhpura on Wednesday.

Buddha Colony station house officer (SHO) Mukesh Kumar Kuer said the allegations against the girl's employer would be verified.

'We are waiting for the statement of the victim's father. Once it is handed over to us, we shall start the investigation,' the SHO said, adding that the victim's employer was a widow.

According to sources, Geeta had employed the victim around four months ago.

In his statement, the girl's father alleged that Chandan and Nandan, both residents of Sahli village in Sheikhpura district, assaulted his daughter in Geeta's flat, leading to her death, on Tuesday.

'Both Chandan and Nandan frequently visited Geeta's flat in Patna. A close associate of Chandan and Nandan has also been accused of harassing the girl on one pretext or the other. The police have launched a hunt for the three,' a policeman deployed at the Buddha Colony police station said.