Jharkhand: Suspended BJP leader Seema Patra arrested for ‘abusing’ house help

The case was registered on a complaint lodged on August 22 by Vivek Anand Baskey, a state government official, who told the police that he was alerted by Patra’s son.

Ayushman, about the abuse of the domestic help, Sunita Xaxa. In the complaint, Baskey described Ayushman as his friend who had been admitted by his mother to a psychiatric institute allegedly after he objected to the abuse.

On Wednesday, Baskey told reporters that he came to know about the abuse when Ayushman called him on August 2. “I did not know the seriousness of the issue then,” he said.

The FIR is based on Baskey’s complaint, which stated that Ayushman called Baskey at 1 am on August 2, saying that “something bad is happening” in his house. “In the meantime, his mother also called to say that his son was acting violent… (Ayushman) called again and stated his mom is going to kill the maid,” his complaint said. When Baskey reached the house, Patra did not allow him to meet Ayushman, it said.

According to the FIR, Baskey’s wife Rashmi George received a call on August 18 from Ayushman who again spoke about the violence against Xaxa. “…he pleaded that since the maid is a tribal and I (Baskey) am a tribal too, the rescue will be possible… He said his mother is also planning to take her maid, who was not in good health and…had defecated and urinated in her dress, to Varanasi to get rid of her. He said…his mother could also wrap the maid in a blanket and throw her on the roadside or any isolated place,” stated the FIR.

According to the FIR, Baskey spoke to Patra the next day (August 19) when she asked him to accompany her to a psychiatric institute to get her son diagnosed. “…On the way back (after visiting the Central Institute of Psychiatry on August 20), Seema Patra blamed her son for everything…when my (Baskey’s) wife showed pictures sent by Ayushman of the maid to Patra, she got a bit nervous and told us that the image was photoshopped,” the FIR stated.

According to the FIR, Baskey got a call the next day (August 21) from Patra saying that her son had turned violent and was being taken to the Institute with the help of police. However, the FIR said that as soon as the call got over, Baskey’s wife received a text from Ayushman stating: “Help Sunita. My mother got me arrested. Help me…and help her reach home, save me.”

According to the FIR, Ayushman was handcuffed at CIP. “A very important and shocking thing he told his mother in front of the police officers was that you (Patra) had made her (Xaxa) drink her own urine… what kind of person are you,” the FIR stated, citing Baskey’s complaint. It added that the family’s driver told Baskey that Patra’s son was telling the truth.

Ayushman was later admitted at Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS) due to the non-availability of a bed at CIP, the police said.

The FIR stated that when Patra’s family used to travel outside Ranchi, they kept Xaxa locked inside the house for days. It stated that the domestic help “did not see the sunlight for the last three years” and had “tried to escape” once unsuccessfully.

The case made headlines after a video statement of Sunita, who was seen with burn marks and bruises on her body, went viral on social media. The police have registered a case against Patra under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (grievous hurt), 346 (wrongful confinement), 374 (unlawful compulsory labour).