11-year-old girl tortured allegedly by a trader in Thane
A Mumbai trader has been arrested for allegedly torturing an 11-year-old who was forced to eat chillies which were also rubbed on her body.
Sarjil Ansari, a 38-year-old napkin seller, was arrested over the weekend in Thane near Mumbai. His wife Farhat was being questioned, said an investigating police officer.
The couple allegedly bought the girl a year ago for Rs 15,000 from her parents in Uttar Pradesh, promising her parents that she would be well looked after and given a better education.
"They used to regularly torture and beat up the girl. The girl complained that she was forced to eat chillies, which were also applied on her body," said a police officer who was not named by news agency AFP.
"Often the family would turn up the volume on their home music system to muffle her cries for help," he added.
He said police were alerted when neighbours notified them about possible mistreatment of the girl, whose tasks included cleaning and looking after the couple's baby, despite her own young age.
The girl is now in the care of a local non-governmental organisation.
In October last year, a teenage girl working as a maid in Delhi was hospitalised after being rescued from a home where campaigners said she was slashed with knives and mauled by dogs.
In 2006, India passed legislation banning employment of children under 14 in households, roadside eateries and hotels, but the law is openly violated.