Sangeeta Richard (File photo)
Whether it's about a 13-year-old locked up at home without food while her employer holidays in Bangkok, or a 17-year-old girl beaten up and locked up at home in undignified conditions. Or it's about a 45-year-old woman, treated like an animal and beaten mercilessly to death by an MP's wife. Stories of domestic helps in India have been about stories of cruelty and exploitation.
Which is why Sangeeta Richard doesn't fit into the popular idea of an exploited Indian domestic worker.
Sangeeta Richard left for New York in November last year as domestic help for Devyani Khobragade, who was just appointed as India's Deputy Consul General in New York. In June this year, she ran away. Consequently, the US government filed a case against the diplomat on charges of lying about payment of minimum wages to Sangeeta in her visa form.
Devyani was arrested, strip-searched and allegedly locked up with drug addicts. Details of her arrest sparked off a diplomatic row between India and the United States.
Amidst all this, is the story of the rights of Sangeeta, the domestic help, being forgotten?
Sangeeta's lawyer Dana Sussman says her client was only fighting for what she deserved. "Richard was not paid $9.75 per hour, only Rs 30,000 per month. She was not given paid leave or health insurance, worked 7 days a week with few hours off on Sundays. India tried to silence and intimidate my client and family."
Eyebrows were also raised over how the US flew Sangeeta's husband Philip Richard and their two children to the US, two days before Ms Khobragade was arrested, without the Indian authorities getting a whiff of it. Sussman says, "Cannot comment on why Richard's husband and two kids were brought to the US. It was the prosecutor's decision as he mentioned there was an attempt in India to silence the case."
Back in India, there are some who have raised their voice in support of Sangeeta.
A street play was staged in Delhi to demonstrate how domestic workers are exploited, even when they are taken abroad and promised a better life. Activists point to the larger issue of India not having a law to protect domestic workers.
The Domestic Workers Welfare and Social Security Act has not been tabled in the parliament three years after it was drafted by the National Commission for Women. Except for Kerala and Tamil Nadu, no other state has fixed a minimum wage for domestic workers.
Activists claim that because of low standards in which most domestic workers function in India, workers like Sangeeta are not paid as per the US law since is not perceived as exploitation.
Anannya Bhattacharjee of the Gharelu Kaamgaar Sanghatan, and who has worked with Indian domestic workers in New York, says "Indian government is only focusing on the diplomat. It is extremely unfortunate that they have not spoken about the domestic worker. Even when they have, they make it sound like a conspiracy. This particular issue is really about the feudal relations with Indian domestic workers and their relations with their employers. Such relationships are rampant in India and among Indians living abroad."
Tiffany Williams, a social worker based in Washington DC shares her perspective. "I think the difference is that because of the abuse that has been part of our history the US government has put in place minimum standards for domestic workers that a lot of other countries may not have. I think the battle is that domestic workers have to organize in spite of those laws and support. And so when they are enforced, as in this case, there is backlash and it's hard for us."
But her critics say since Sangeeta had entered into a contract with Khobragade in India, the Indian government is right in insisting that American laws don't apply to her. In fact, right after Sangeeta ran away, Khobragade filed a case of cheating and conspiracy against her and her husband in India and a case of theft against the domestic help in New york. Sangeeta is likely to be arrested if she returns to India.