New Delhi, Oct. 15: A 15-year-old girl from Gumla, held as a slave by the family of a young industrialist in Haryana for around a year, was rescued yesterday by police who found her locked inside a cupboard, unconscious, battered and bruised.
The girl, originally from Ratan Toli village in Gumla, was rushed to a hospital with severe bruises around her eyes. Her head and mouth swollen, apparently after being banged against walls, she also had several wounds and burns from sharp objects on her back.
On gaining consciousness, the girl said she had been starved for days. She said her uncle had brought her to a placement agency in Delhi, who found her a job as a domestic help in Gurgaon's Krishna Colony at the flat of young couple Shweta and Sagar Jain, an industrialist.
However, she was confined, not paid or allowed contact with the world outside.
Police, acting on a neighbour's call to the child helpline, arrived at the colony yesterday evening. When officers reached the house, Sagar was not in and and his wife, Shweta, told them that the only two children at home were their own toddlers.
The policemen left after a quick search. Soon, the child line rang again. The caller reported that policemen had not looked properly as the child was still inside.Child rights activist Rishi Kant, who assisted the police, told The Telegraph that the police then went back to the spot.
"She was nowhere to be found. An alert officer asked Shweta to open the almirah. Inside it they found the girl lying unconscious and badly beaten," he said.
After being produced before Child Welfare Committee, an FIR of confinement, slavery, assault and intimidation was registered against the Jains at City police station. Both were taken into custody separately today.
"The police did not register the case under section 370 of IPC which covers trafficking. Under the sections registered, the accused can easily get bail," Kant said.
The National Commission of Scheduled Tribes has sent a notice to Gurgaon police commissioner Navdeep Virk to register an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act. Jharkhand police IG (CID) Sampat Meena said that a team was being sent to Gurgaon.
"The SP of Gumla has been asked to trace the family. The case is registered in Gurgaon and Haryana police will probe the case. If anything is lacking then we will step in," she told this correspondent.
