A couple in Dwarka’s Bagdola has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a 10-year-old girl they had brought from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur to work as a domestic help, the police said on Wednesday.
According to a senior officer, Poornima Bagchi, an IndiGo pilot, has been sent to 14-day judicial custody in Tihar Jail and her husband Kaushik, a Vistara employee, is in police custody. The case came to light around 9 a.m. when the Dwarka South police station was informed about the couple mistreating their domestic help.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) M. Harsha Vardhan said, “A relative said she saw the girl being beaten up by the couple in the morning and confronted them. This led to a crowd gathering at their residence.”
“A case under IPC Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave) has been registered. The couple has also been booked under the Child Labour Act and Section 75 (assaulting and abusing a child) of the Juvenile Justice Act,” he added.
Thrashed on video
Videos on social media showed some women thrashing and pulling Ms. Bagchi, 33, by her hair, as she tried to apologise. Her husband could be seen shouting, “She will die, leave her.” Some men then beat up Mr. Kaushik, 36, before an elderly man was seen intervening.
The videos also showed injuries on the girl’s eyes and face as well as burns on her hands.
An officer privy to the investigation said the couple had hired the girl two months ago as a stay-at-home babysitter for their two-and-a-half-year-old son. “The couple regularly tortured her and forced her to do household chores. Around 15 days ago, they asked the girl to iron some clothes. When the girl burnt some by mistake, the woman pressed a hot iron against the victim’s hand. Two-three days ago, the couple thrashed her after she said she could not cook something that they had asked for,” the officer added.
‘Not sexually assaulted’
The DCP said the girl has undergone medical examination and counselling and there were no signs of her being sexually assaulted.
He added that a case has also been filed under IPC Sections 323 and 341 over the assault on the couple based on Ms. Bagchi’s complaint and investigation is under way to identify the people in the mob.
Meanwhile, both the airlines employing the couple have derostered them. An IndiGo spokesperson said the airline is investigating the matter and the “employee has been derostered from official duties”. A Vistara spokesperson said, “We will extend complete support to the agencies,” adding that the name of the accused husband was different from that in the airline’s records.
Taking cognisance of the matter, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) asked the local sub-divisional magistrate and the station house officer to prosecute the accused as per law and submit an action-taken report. “The child has been given necessary medical and psychological assistance, and is being placed in a CCI (child care institution) for necessary treatment, care and protection after being heard and ordered by the CWC (child welfare committee) Bench concerned,” the DCPCR said in a tweet.
Published - July 20, 2023 01:36 am IST
