BSP MP Dhananjay Singh and his wife Jagriti Singh arrested for the murder of their domestic help
BSP MP Dhananjay Singh and his wife Jagriti Singh, who were arrested over the murder of a domestic help and the torture of another, were today sent to five day custody as the police told the court about a third domestic help who was also beaten mercilessly and is recovering in hospital.
Dr Jagriti Singh, 29, was
arrested on Tuesday for the murder of 35-year-old domestic help Rakhi Bhadra, who had been tortured with hot rods, an iron, a stick and also kicked repeatedly over the Diwali weekend.
Hours later, the MP was arrested for allegedly abetting murder and trying to destroy evidence.
The 38-year-old MP and his wife were in court today when the police revealed that two more helps were tortured, a 17-year-old boy and a woman, Meena, who is battling severe injuries in hospital. Earlier today, others who worked for the couple also went to the police.
A judge said, "The alleged offences are of a very serious nature."
Jagriti Singh is a dentist at the RML hospital, which delayed the post-mortem of the dead woman. Sources said the police did not want biased doctors on the medical board in charge of the procedure.
The main witness against the couple is the teenager who was allegedly tortured along with Rakhi. He showed his injuries in court and gave details of the savage beatings that led to Rakhi's death.
The teen has reportedly told the police that on November 1, Jagriti Singh lost her temper when Rakhi took longer to prepare a meal, and hit her with an iron rod. Rakhi allegedly started bleeding, but she was not taken to the doctor or given any food.
The boy alleged that the beatings continued the next day.
"She hit me on the head with a rod. There was no food for us," he has reportedly said in his statement. "She asked me to wake Rakhi at 3.50 am and threw a plate of rice at us. In the morning when I got late by 10 minutes, I was thrashed again."
On November 3, Diwali day, Rakhi's condition allegedly worsened and she stopped responding. But the teenager says Jagriti Singh asked him not to disturb the critically injured woman, claiming she had given her an injection to sleep and heal. On Monday morning, Rakhi died. The minor has alleged that Dhananjay Singh started removing the cameras installed around the house and warned the staff against revealing anything.