A 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly forced to work for nearly 20 hours a day, burnt repeatedly with a hot iron, and deprived of food for days, was rescued from a house in southeast Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, police said on Saturday.
The girl worked as a domestic helper at a house in Abul Fazal Enclave-II and was kept away from her parents for nearly a year.
According to the police, the Association for Voluntary Action approached them with a complaint, alleging that a girl was being employed as a labourer in the area.
Following directions from the Kalkaji sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), the Labour Department, Delhi Police and NGO representatives conducted a rescue operation on November 3 and 4.
During the operation, the girl, a resident of Shram Vihar Jhuggi in Shaheen Bagh, was rescued from a house in Abul Fazal Enclave-II, where she was allegedly employed by a woman, who was identified as Sadaf, the police said.
In her statement, the girl said she was made to work from 6 am to 2 am, doing household chores such as sweeping, mopping, washing utensils, and cleaning the house. She said she was given tea around 11 am and often served leftover food.
She said that her employer repeatedly burnt her with a hot iron on her back, hands and hips and also wounded her with a heated knife.
Several injuries and old scars, including burn marks across her back and deep wounds on her head, were found on her body, according to the NGO.
The girl also told authorities that she was once deprived of food and water for three days and was beaten over minor mistakes. Instead of being taken to a doctor, she was given medicines purchased from a medical store.
According to the police, the girl was also allegedly prevented from meeting her parents, who were allowed to speak to her over the phone only two or three times in nearly a year. During these calls, her face was covered so that they could not see her injuries, the NGO claimed.
The girl was initially too frightened to speak before officials as she had allegedly been threatened with death if she disclosed the abuse. She later narrated her ordeal before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
Her statement was recorded before a magistrate, and she was produced before the CWC, which directed that she be admitted to AIIMS for medical treatment.
The SDM ordered the Shaheen Bagh Police Station to register a case under the provisions of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
No arrest has been made so far.
The NGO said another woman had placed the girl in the household and paid her only Rs 18,000 for nearly a year of work.
The girl told the CWC that she wants to resume her studies and become a teacher.