This 15-year-old girl was allegedly tortured by her employer in Delhi for a year
A Delhi court today rejected the bail plea of a senior executive with a multinational firm, who has been accused of torturing her teenage domestic help and keeping her in most inhuman conditions.
Vandana Dhir, 50, who had been arrested a week ago on assault charges, will stay in jail for now.
In court, she was accused of inflicting serious injuries on a 15-year-old girl from Jharkhand, who had worked with her for nearly a year. The girl was rescued last Monday, semi-naked and with her head battered, from the house in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj locality where Ms Dhir lived with her mother and dogs.
The girl's mother, who was brought to Delhi by the police last week, says her daughter has told her that she was hit with hot pans, a dog chain and knives. She allegedly also complained that she was made to drink her employer's urine, and was forced to eat her meals and sleep in a toilet.
Activists who were in the rescue team say the girl was found with savage marks of injury, which warranted the most severe action. The girl also alleges she was paid nothing for her long hours of work; her salary went directly to her placement agency. The owner of the agency was also arrested last week.
The case has highlighted the abuse of domestic helps in the capital where thousands of workers, often children are trafficked from remote and poverty-stricken states by unscrupulous placement agencies.
The court today called for legislation that would require mandatory registration of placement agencies, payment of minimum wages to workers, decent living conditions and diet, security and protection against abuse or exploitation of helps.