On May 22, a 17-year-old domestic help from Jharkhand, who was allegedly raped and beaten up by the owner of a placement agency who lured her to Delhi, ran away from the agency’s office in Nihal Vihar where she was held captive for over a week — only to land up at the Nihal Vihar police station. A source in an NGO that rescues survivors of trafficking told The Indian Express that the girl, who belongs to a tribal community of Jharkhand, has been sent to a shelter home in the city. Confirming the incident, Additional DCP (outer) Rajender Singh Sagar said, “She came to Delhi a year ago with Dinesh, who is from her village. He promised her a good salaried job, as well as marriage. He runs the placement agency with Rajkumar, and the two have been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), and IPC sections 370 (trafficking) and 376 (rape).” The incident comes days after the body of a 16-year-old domestic help from Jharkhand was found chopped to pieces in a drain. The men who brought her to Delhi strangled her and dismembered the body, after she demanded her salary from them. According to police, parts of her body were found in different packets in a drain in outer Delhi’s Miyanwali Nagar on May 4. While one of the accused Manjeet Singh Karketa (30) has been arrested, three others are absconding, said a senior police officer. According to a police source, the 17-year-old who survived the ordeal worked as a domestic help in a home in Delhi for 11 months — the duration of her contract. “She said that after 11 months, she told Dinesh and Rajkumar that she wanted to go home, after which they held her captive in the agency’s office,” said Sagar. The girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee which sent her to a shelter home for women. After due counselling and home inspection, officials said she might be sent back home to Jharkhand.
