Mumbai cops in Delhi to track teen's abusers

A Mumbai Police team is scouring Delhi and Uttar Pradesh for the aunt and ‘husband' of the 14-year-old girl, who was sold to a well-heeled Mumbai family earlier this month for Rs 50,000.

The girl, who hails from UP, was sold into slavery on July 15 and thrashed every day by her employers - Rekha Singh, the 56-year-old wife of a business tycoon in Bihar, and her MBA graduate daughter Reshma (35).

She escaped on July 28 by climbing out of the 17th floor bathroom window of a posh Malad building, shimmied down a floor and took the lift to the parking area, where she approached a vegetable vendor for help.

The Malad police arrested the employers for human trafficking and violation of the Juvenile Justice Act, and rescued another child from the flat. The girl's ‘agent', Delhi resident Manju Sahani (45), was also arrested.

At a hearing yesterday on the plea to extend Rekha, Reshma and Sahani's custody, the police told the Sessions Court that the three have not been cooperating with the investigation, adding that a special team has been sent to Delhi and UP to nab others involved.

They said more sections of the IPC will be added to the case once other traffickers are arrested.

The court remanded Rekha and Reshma in judicial custody, and Sahani to three more days of police custody.

Sold into prostitution too
Thre girl has been sent to the Dongri children's home, where she recounted her ordeal to the Child Welfare Committee. According to a source from the home, she was forced to beg after her stepmother allegedly starved her. Two years ago, a woman lured her to Delhi with the offer of food and sold her into prostitution. The girl managed to escape and was then put under the care of an orphanage. Six months later, her aunt, Lalmani alias Phuwa, took her away and got her married to one Krishna Chambar in Delhi. Sahani later brokered a deal with Krishna, took her to Mumbai and sold the girl.