The 29-year-old wife of BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, Jagriti Singh, had installed around 20 CCTV cameras at her residence to keep an eye on her domestic helps and had also installed one in the bathroom.
A senior police official said both domestic helps were confined and under surveillance 24x7. She had also attached the output of the CCTV on her mobile phone to keep a check on them. This was revealed in a statement given by the 17-year-old domestic help at Jagriti’s residence.
The minor help, a native of Banaras, told police that around 11 months ago, he was employed by the Singhs. “Some weeks later, Jagriti started abusing him. She never allowed him outside the house. Both helps were under surveillance. They were not allowed to speak to their family or other helps,” he told police in his statement, adding a few months ago, when he was seen talking to their security guard, Jagriti thrashed him mercilessly.
“On August 1, Bhabhiji (Jagriti) asked me to clean the aquarium. Accidentally, I spilled water over the motor and it stopped functioning. She was furious on learning about it. She flogged me with antelope antlers till I was bleeding profusely,” he said.
He also claimed that his employer used to scare him and Rakhi Bhadra — another domestic help — and threaten them with dire consequences, if they breathed a word. She had told them that she had directed security guards and the PSOs to shoot them on sight if they dared
ventured outside.
She used to lock them both inside the house with no food or water. Jagriti often threw their food into a trashcan for them to feed on. She also used an iron press and antlers while flogging them.
“Rakhi was beaten regularly over petty issues. On November 2, when Rakhi was asked to clean the terrace, she fell. Jagriti found the task unfinished when she returned home from work. Rakhi was nursing her wounds when she was beaten with iron rods,” he said. “On November 3, Rakhi did not turn up for work. Angered, Jagriti called her and kicked her in the abdomen and made her stand outside the house for over three hours without food or water. Rakhi was later administered only painkillers and not taken to a dispensary,” he said, adding that Rekha had sustained grievous injuries to her chest, back, limbs, including scald wounds on her stomach. She succumbed to her injuries on Monday morning.