Three days after a 14-year-old domestic help was raped and murdered in the Panchavati building of the upscale Vasant Vihar area in Thane,the protesting maids resumed work but with a growing sense of unease. On May 28,the teen went to the residence of 68-year-old Vikram Jasra for doing the daily household chores on behalf of her mother. Hours later,she was found dead on the stairs. It was revealed that she was raped and strangulated to death. The Vartak Nagar police arrested Jasra for allegedly raping and killing the teen. Following the incident,domestic helps in the area did not turn up for work and had assembled for funeral on Monday in large number. Normalcy has been restored,but now every building has stringent rules. Earlier,the maids did not register their names with the security personnel,but now everyone has been asked to register their names while entering the building, said Sheila Ramesh,who is in her late forties and works in the same building where the incident occurred. No doubt there is fear in our minds,but what can be done? Many maids are in their teens and are scared. But we cant stop working, said Shoba Vairal,who heads the group of women working in households in Thane. The only option is to be more alert, added Shakuntala Sable,another help. Meanwhile,more than 2,000 people attended the funeral on Monday. The family of the victim said sending their daughter for work was their gravest mistake. The girl was staying in Uttar Pradesh with her grandmother while her younger siblings-two sisters and one brother- resided with her parents in Thane. She used to fall sick frequently,so I asked her to come to Thane for treatment around five months ago. She started helping my wife with work in her free time, said the girls father,Sunil Chaudhary,who works in a Thane mall. She started working at Jasras residence three months ago.
