New Delhi:
A domestic help, who had worked at the house of former BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, who along with his wife Jagriti Singh is facing trial in a case of murder of their domestic help, today claimed before a Delhi court that he too was a victim of assault and cruelty.
19-year-old Ram Pal, who appeared as a prosecution witness before the court, told Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal that he and two other domestic helps, Meena and Rakhi Bhadra, were mercilessly beaten up by Jagriti without any reason and he was not even paid for his work by her.
The couple were arrested on November 5, 2013 in connection with the death of their 35-year-old domestic help Rakhi Bhadra, a resident of West Bengal.
During recording of evidence in the case which began today, Ram Pal deposed that Jagriti was a "lady of very short temperament" and she had been assaulting him, Meena and Rakhi with fist blows, door latches, wooden stick and also hot iron press.
The witness, who started working at Jagriti's house in New Delhi in December 2012, said, "accused Jagriti Singh used to beat us (myself, Meena and Rakhi) on very small issues and sometimes without any fault on our part. Despite our continous work from morning till night, we were not given food to eat and she used to throw the food in the dustbin."
"We (domestic helps) used to work with empty stomach," he said, adding that in April 2013, when Rakhi took some time in preparing a food item, Jagriti assaulted her with fist blows.
However, Ram Pal told the court that Dhananjay used to visit the house but he "never beat" them. When they used to complain to him regarding Jagriti's behaviour towards them, the then MP "used to say that we should do our work properly".
He further said, "when Dhananjay Singh used to leave, Jagriti Singh used to give us (domestic helps) beatings on the pretext that we had complained to him."
The recording of evidence of Ram Pal remained inconclusive and would continue on July 20.
While Dhananjay is facing trial for alleged offence of destruction of evidenceonly, Jagriti was put on trial for various offences punishable under the IPC, including murder.
Narrating his ordeal before the court, Ram Pal alleged that Jagriti "used to mainly beat us (domestic helps) with the horns of deer and danda (wooden stick). She also used to scratch by her nails on our neck portion and cheeks besides giving us beatings."
He said Jagriti used to strangulate them and also put door latches in his mouth as well as Rakhi's mouth "and used to roll it in our mouth due to which my lip got cut and blood oozed out of my lip."
He said that in May 2013, when the motor of the aquarium in the house was burnt, Jagriti got very angry and assaulted him with deer horns due to which he suffered head injuries and after that incident, she used to beat him with wooden stick.
The witness said they were not allowed to go out and CCTV cameras were installed in the house at various places, including the bathroom used by the domestic helps.
Ram Pal further said that two weeks prior to the death of Rakhi, Jagriti got angry as a glass kept in the kitchen broke and she asked him to plug-in the iron press.
"She (Jagriti) then applied the heated iron press on the body of Meena and Rakhi Bhadra and thereafter applied the same on my stomach...," he said.
He also said that Jagriti had installed iron net in the backside of the house so that no domestic helps could go away and she used to tell them that a guard standing outside the house would shoot them if they would try to run away.
The court had earlier framed charges against Jagriti under various sections of the IPC, including 302 (murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means).
The court had discharged Dhananjay for alleged offences under various provisions of the IPC, including 109 (punishment of abetment of offence) read with 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 307 (attempt to murder).
It had framed charges against Jagriti for the offences of murder, causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons, wrongfully confining for 10 or more days, unlawful compulsory labour, destruction of evidence and criminal intimidation of the IPC.
Jagriti, however, was discharged for the alleged offences of attempt to murder, causing grievous hurt, unnatural offences, and buying or disposing of any person as a slave of IPC and other offences.
Dhananjay is out on bail, while Jagriti, who was a dental surgeon at a government hospital here, is currently in judicial custody.