New Delhi:
For the year that she worked at the large bungalow in Delhi allocated to parliamentarian Dhananjay Singh, Meena says she was treated like an animal by his wife. She was made to crouch over her meals and eat without using her hands, she has told the police while recovering in hospital from serious injuries on her hands and legs, all allegedly inflicted by Mr Singh's wife, Jagriti.
The politician and his wife were arrested on Tuesday night, hours after another woman who worked for them was found dead at their home. The MP has been accused of destruction of evidence; Jagriti has been charged with murder.
The police's investigation has so far assembled a narrative of profligate and pathological torture among the different people who worked for 29-year-old Jagriti ,who was allegedly estranged from her husband.
Rakhi, 35, who died on Monday, had been burnt with an iron rod on different parts of her body. The police says Meena, now in hospital, has a fractured right hand and burnt hair. Jagriti would sometimes spit on her meal and then watch as Meena ate it, the latter has reportedly testified.
A 17-year-old employee who cannot be named for legal reasons has said that Jagriti had security cameras installed in the bathroom used by her domestic helpers and that sometimes, when she flew into a rage, she would beat them with sticks and a metal replica of antlers.