How a chance sighting by aunt led to the rescue of minor, arrest of couple from Dwarka

Her family alleged that while the employers promised that she would only have to take care of their toddler, the accused pushed her to do all the household chores. She had been working there for over a month but none of her family members found out about the alleged abuse.

On Wednesday morning, a 33-year-old pilot and her husband were arrested for allegedly hiring the minor and thrashing her.

The girl’s paternal aunt and her cousins were on their way to work on Wednesday when they spotted her on the balcony.

“She was being beaten up by the woman because she had not cleaned the balcony properly. When I asked her about the beatings, she told me she was beaten up regularly. I told her to come with us but she refused, saying that her employers will beat her up. We started shouting but Poornima pulled her inside and shut all the doors,” said the aunt.

The aunt and the cousins called their relatives and neighbours, and later approached a CISF officer who lives in the same apartment building. “Still, they refused to let the girl go. The woman told us to call her parents. We did… but the woman didn’t listen. This went on for at least an hour,” said another aunt.

The girl was finally released from the home at 9 am. However, by then, the relatives and domestic workers in the area said they were agitated and attacked the couple.

“She (the minor) was shivering and crying. She held me for 10-15 minutes and refused to leave me. She was so scared. Her eyes are red. Her face is swollen and bruised. She told me the woman forced her to do all the work and beat her up. Whenever she made a mistake, the woman would use hot tongs or hot iron on her. Her hands have multiple burn injuries,” added the aunt.

The girl’s family hails from a village in Bihar. Though her parents also live in Dwarka, they left for Bihar a month ago after the death of a relative. Police said they are coming back Thursday.

The girl has five more siblings — three brothers and two sisters. All of them are minors and don’t go to school. The family shifted to Delhi around a decade ago. The girl’s father is a mason while the mother works as a house help. The family said they pushed the girl to work because they were facing financial issues.

The girl’s uncle (38) said, “She said she was scolded and beaten up everyday. They have been starving her for the last three-four days and later provided her with some stale food. When I asked her about the burn injuries, she told me that she was once ironing the uniform of the woman but mistakenly burnt it. The woman got angry and used the iron to burn her hands.”

The girl’s cousin, around 16, said she also works as a domestic help. “We have no other option but to work,” she said.

Meanwhile, the residents of the Dwarka building where the couple lived said they were not aware of the assault on the minor.

Harsh Yadav, a local, said, “We were all standing outside when the relatives and locals attacked the couple… The woman tortured her. Anybody would get enraged.”

Another resident of the building said, “We don’t know much about the couple. They shifted here two months ago only.”