06 May,2014 06:59 AM IST | | Shiva Devnath
The Sayyed family brought the boy from Jharkhand a year ago by falsely promising his parents a good education for their son, but instead kept him as a servant in their home
The Kanakia police have arrested a Mira Road couple for allegedly torturing their seven-year-old domestic help. The boy, who hails from Jharkhand, had been working for the Sayyed family for the past one year.
The boy was rescued by an alert neighbour who spotted him crying near the window. Pics/Azim Tamboli
The police acted after receiving a tip-off from Childline India Foundation, informing them about the boy's misery. A neighbour who lives in the same building as the accused alerted them about the boy's condition. He rescued the child and handed him over to Childline.
The accused Nasir Sayyed (in saffron) and his wife forced the boy to do household chores and ill-treated him if he refused
The police said that the complainant, Ali Mohammed, who resides in the flat above the Sayyed family in Tabbassum Apartments in Poonam Nagar, was on his way to his apartment when he saw the little boy crying near the window. When Ali asked the boy why he was crying, the boy revealed that Nasir Sayyed and his wife were torturing him.
The boy told Ali that Nasir brought him to Mumbai from Jharkhand after he promised his parents that he would get a better education. However after getting him to Mumbai, Nasir and his wife made him do the household chores and gave him a paltry Rs 10 per day.
"When the boy made any mistake in the daily chores, the couple allegedly burnt him with a hot knife. We have sent the boy for a medical examination," said PSI Aslam Khatib from Kanakia police station.
The police have arrested the couple under various sections of the Child Labour Act. "We will now present the couple before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and contact the parents of the child," added Khatib.
