Mumbai: Cops book employer of minor help who fell to death from highrise

Kalachowkie police have booked Chinchpokli resident in the death of the 13-year-old domestic help. Naresh Mehta is facing charges for employing a minor at his 13th-floor residence of the high-rise Gundecha Garden

Akhilesh Yadav (13) fell from the 13th floor of the E-wing of Gundecha Garden, a highrise complex in Chinchpokli.  Pic/Shadab Khan

The Kalachowkie police have booked a Chinchpokli resident in the death of the 13-year-old domestic help. Naresh Mehta is facing charges for employing a minor at his 13th-floor residence of the high-rise Gundecha Garden in the Central Mumbai suburb.

Tragic fall
The teenager, Akhilesh Yadav, had fallen to his death from the 13th floor of the building on November 29. Mehta had claimed to the police that Yadav was 18. But when his family arrived on December 2 and produced his birth certificate, it was revealed that he was 13 years old.

"Documents have proved that he was a minor, and hence, it's now an offence under the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2015," said an officer.

Also Read: Mumbai: Minor domestic help falls to death from Chinchpokli highrise

Senior inspector Dilip Ugle said, "Yadav hailed from a very poor family; his parents had sent him to Mumbai as they didn't make enough money."

Stunts gone wrong
Another minor working next door to Mehta and an eyewitness to the incident, who was rescued, told the police that he and Yadav used to climb up on the ducts and steal shampoos and soaps from other flats. A few days ago, he had stolen the undergarments of another maid in the same way, the other minor added, saying that on November 29 he was doing the same, when he lost his balance and fell, dying on the spot.

Read Story: Whodunit? In Mumbai, mystery over death of 'minor' domestic help continues

The police took the rescued minor to the building and asked him to reconstruct the sequence of events. "We have recorded the place of incident and how Yadav climbed up on the duct and fell down," the officer added.

Copspeak
Deputy commissioner of police (zone IV) N Ambika said, "We have booked Mehta as well as his neighbour under the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2015; we will arrest them soon."

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