Woman pilot 'hit' 10-year-old domestic help with 'hot tongs'

PTI

New Delhi, July 20

The relatives of a 10-year-old domestic help, who was allegedly thrashed by her employer in southwest Delhi's Dwarka, claimed the minor was often hit with hot iron tongs and demanded strict action against the accused.

They said the girl was employed to take care of the accused couple's child but was also made to do household work.

Police have arrested Kaushik Bagchi (36) and wife Poornima Bagchi (33) for allegedly assaulting the minor.

Poornima works as a pilot at a private airline while her husband is an employee of another carrier, they said.

The victim's family and other relatives live in JJ Colony, 500 metres from the apartment where she worked as a domestic help.

The girl had been working there for two months, but her family did not know that she was subjected to "abuse".

The victim's aunt, who spotted her being beaten up by her employer, claimed that she was passing by the street for work on Wednesday morning when she saw Poornima beating the girl while she was working in the balcony.

On spotting this, she, along with others, went to the couple's house but they did not come out. It was only after creating a ruckus that they opened the door and let the child come out, the relatives alleged.

The child then narrated her ordeal to the relatives.

"She (victim) was shivering and crying when she ran out. Her face was swollen and bruised. She told me that the woman forced her to do all the work and beat her up. Whenever she made a mistake, the woman would attack her with hot tongs or hot iron. Her hands have multiple burns," the girl's aunt alleged.

The victim's uncle said, "We saw burn marks on her arms and other parts of the body. She also had bruises on her eyes. The girl was in a bad mental state. She was terrified and inconsolable."

According to the uncle, the victim told him that she was also left to starve for the past three-four days and was often given stale food.

"Some days ago, the girl was ironing the uniform of the woman and apparently burnt a part of her clothes. When she noticed that a part of her uniform got burnt, she inflicted burns on her with the hot iron," he said.

Police said the medical examination of the victim revealed that the burn marks were old while the other injuries sustained were fresh.

But it is yet to be ascertained if the burn marks were caused by the accused during the period of her stay with the couple, they said.

The girl's relatives demanded strict action against the accused couple and said they should be taught a lesson.

They said the girl's parents, who come from a village in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, had gone to their native place due to the sudden death of a family member.

Her parents would reach Delhi on Thursday, the uncle said.

"What happened to the 10-year-old girl is unfortunate. As per the child, she was beaten up by the couple over the past 15 days for not 'working properly'," he said.

After the incident came to light, the couple was confronted by the victim's relatives who also manhandled them.

In a purported video of the incident, the mob could be seen attacking the accused couple. Some of the women were seen slapping and pulling the hair of the accused woman, who was in her uniform.

Poornima was heard apologising in the video while Kaushik was seen shielding her from the agitated mob.