Delhi horror: Air-hostess tortures 12-year-old maid, keeps her locked up

Close on the heels of a 15-year-old girl being tortured by her female employer in a posh Vasant Kunj apartment in South Delhi, another case of horrific domestic abuse has been reported in South Delhi. In this case, a 12-year-old girl was reportedly tortured, abused by her employer who is an air hostess with Air India, reports the Indian Express. The report says that the Air Hostess had locked up the girl in her apartment in Netaji Nagar before she flew to Australia. The report quotes DCP (South) B S Jaiswal as saying that the the air hostess would be questioned on her return to the country. “We are in touch with airport authorities and she will join investigation as soon as she returns,” he told the paper. The girl hails from Manipur and according to the Hindustan Times she had been bought to the city by the sister of the air hostess. The report says, “Initial investigation doesn’t hint at trafficking. Police said the minor girl was brought by the employer’s sister from a village in Manipur.”   [caption id=“attachment_1164211” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image used for representational purposes only. Reuters[/caption] The girl managed to escape from the apartment and narrate her ordeal to the neighbours who then called thei police. Various newspaper reports say that the girl was often beaten up with a belt, starved and not given any money. The employer would even slam the girl’s head against the wall if she was found resting. The girl was living in the house for the past two years, say reports. According to Times of India, the victim told the Child Welfare Committee, “I slept only for 5 hours and woke up at 8am to finish the household chores. She would be drunk at times and beat me up if I did not follow her instructions. I was too scared to complain.” The case once again highlights the plight of the domestic workers, who are often underage and bought to a different city with the promise of better jobs and education. Since many of them don’t speak the local language given that they are from far-flung parts of the country, they are even more vulnerable to abuse. After the Vasant Kunj incident, Firstpost had noted that Delhi still hasn’t passed the legislation on the placement of domestic workers.  Firstpost’s Danish Raza had written that, “The draft Delhi Private Placement Agencies (Regulation) Bill has provisions for the functioning of placement agencies and background check on domestic workers. However, it stays silent on the rights of domestic workers and on penalising employers found violating these rights."  Currently, the law which is yet to passed is only concerned with how these girls or even boys are bought to the cities. It doesn’t deal with the kind of abuse that employers can inflict on domestic help.