Locked inside employer's house, minor domestic help rescued by DCW

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New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women has rescued a 12-year-old girl from a locked west Delhi bungalow, whose owners allegedly employed her as a house help but did not pay wages and also beat her up, the women's panel said Thursday.

The Commission initiated the rescue Tuesday after it received a complaint on its helpline 181 that a girl was engaged as a housemaid in a Vikaspuri bungalow that belonged to a transport businessman.

The DCW said that when a joint team of its officials and the Delhi Police reached there, it found the girl was in the house that was locked from outside and the owners were not there.

The bungalow guards confirmed that the girl was employed as a maid in the house last year, the women's panel said.

On seeing the DCW team and police, a relative of the house owner came after a while and unlocked the door.

"She was alone at home and was extremely traumatised. On seeing the DCW team and police, she cried and asked for being rescued and pleaded to be taken back to her family," the Commission said.

She said she belonged to a remote village in Jharkhand and was brought to Delhi by a couple about a year ago. She said two other girls were brought with her.

"She was cleaning the house and cooking. Her salary was given to the woman who had brought her there and she said she was deprived of food and care. She was often beaten up by the house owner," the Commission said.

The child was rescued and taken to the Vikaspuri police station where the station house officer directed that her clothes and other personal belongings be collected from the house, they said.

The girl was taken for medical examination and shifted to a shelter home. She was presented before the Child Welfare Committee which has directed the police to verify her age and trace her parents and bring them to Delhi, the police said. While the DCW said the girl was 12-year-old, the police said they are trying to verify.

The DCW team has requested CWC for proper rehabilitation for the girl as well as recovery of her wages, the panel said. The owners of the house where the girl was found have said that she was paid a salary of Rs 2,500 per month, though the money was handed over to the woman who allegedly brought her.

The panel claimed that the owners said the girl had stolen an iPhone and therefore they beat her up. The women's panel has issued a notice to police in the matter. Police said no case has been registered.