24 August,2011 07:18 AM IST | | Akela
A day after the Nagpada police arrested a teen maid for allegedly flinging her employers' toddler from the fourth floor of their apartment house in Byculla, the victim and offender status has been ironically reversed.
Cops have now booked the employer for encouraging child labour.u00a0
In a fit of rage the maid had flung one-and-half-
year-old Rehan from the fourth floor flat
MiD DAY had reported yesterday ('Vengeful maid flings baby from 4th floor') about the 13-year-old domestic help throwing out the one-and-half-year-old son of her employer, Aqeel Abdul Rehman Khakra, after his wife scolded her for breaking a glass plate.
The child, Rehan, survived the fall and is recuperating in the neonatal ICU of the Prince Ali Khan Hospital in Byculla. The maid was arrested on Sunday, the day after the crime.
Yesterday, however, police registered an FIR against the 47-year-old Khakra under Section 3 and 14 of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, and Sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
Police are questioning the woman who helped find the maid employment in the Khakra household.
"We have registered an FIR against Khakra under the Child Labour Act. Once his son is discharged from the hospital, we will arrest him," said Sanjay Kadam, senior inspector, Nagpada police station.
Rehan, who miraculously survived, suffered minor fractures on his limbs. The police said he will be discharged on Wednesday.
"If a person is under 14 years of age, employing him as a servant/maid is an offence," said Kadam.
Khakra, a builder, runs a construction business at Panchgani, Satara. He lives at Honda Mansion, fourth floor, Sir JJ Road, Byculla.
