Gurugram couple arrested for torturing, assaulting teenage domestic help

Gurugram (Haryana) [India], February 9 (ANI): Police have rescued a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted, starved and tortured by her employers, officials said on Thursday, adding that the couple who engaged the teenager as their domestic help has been arrested.

A joint team of police and the One Stop Crisis Center (Sakhi) on Tuesday rescued the teenager from her employers’ house in New Colony area of Gurugram. The girl was being tortured by the couple for several months and was not even given food, police claimed. The rescue was conducted based on complaint filed by the Gurugram-based NGO, which reached out to the police after a social media thread mentioning the girl’s condition went viral earlier this week today.

“The pictures shared by the activist showed the girl’s face swollen with bruises. Further, the girl also sustained multiple burn injuries on her cheeks, arms, forehead and lips, officials said. Preet Pal Sangwan, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime), Gurugram said the girl was tortured and sexually harassed for several months by the couple who had employed her.

“The couple did not provide proper food to the girl and assaulted her. There were several injuries on her hands, feet and face. She told police that she survived on leftover scraps,” he said. According to the police, the arrested couple has been identified as Manish Khattar (36) and his wife Kamaljeet Kaur (34), residents of the New Colony area. Kaur is working as a public relation officer with a private company while his husband works with an insurance company, said police.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the couple hired the minor, a native of Ranchi five months ago to take care of their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter. During this period, both the husband and the wife used to beat her daily. She was also sexually harassed, the police said.

The minor claimed that she was hired through a placement agency in Delhi. The couple made her work all day and also beat her mercilessly daily, officials added.
An FIR was registered against the couple under Sections 323 (causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the POCSO Act at New Colony police station.

The Juvenile Justice Act has also been invoked, officials informed.