The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) rescued a 17-year-old minor girl from Assam from Ashok Vihar on September 8 who was allegedly forced to work as domestic help. The DCW helpline received a complaint from an unknown person who gave information about the girl. 

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Sold for domestic work

The girl reportedly hails from Tejpur in Assam and was lured into a high paying job in Punjab by a boy named Akash. He along with his 2 friends brought the girl to Punjab and then sold her to a placement agent named Praveen in Delhi. The agent had allegedly paid them for bringing the girl to Delhi. The agent had allegedly sent her for domestic work to a couple`s house in Ashok Vihar where she was promised a salary of Rs 10,000 per month.

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Tortured and Harrassed 

According to the complainant, the girl was held captive in a house in Ashok Vihar and was forced to work in adverse conditions without pay. The DCW team procured the girl's address from her uncle, who lives in the city and found her in a house nearby to the address which had been given by the uncle.

The minor girl was reportedly beaten up and harassed by her employers. She was made to work from six in the morning till midnight. Extremely uncomfortable, when she told Praveen that she no longer wanted to work there, Praveen's wife beat her up and threatened her that she would be pushed into prostitution if she refuses to work. Scared, the minor girl got back to her work as domestic help. Apart from the routine physical and mental torture, she was not given proper food and was not paid a single penny for her toiling. 

DCW to the rescue

With the help of the Delhi Police, when DCW managed to track down the girl and attempted to rescue her, the owners of the house started objecting. The owner claimed that as she had paid a huge amount to the agent, she wouldn’t let the minor girl go till she is able to recover that amount.

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Despite the inhuman opposition, the Delhi police rescued the girl and took her for a medical examination while the owners of the house were taken to the police station. The victim was subsequently sent to a shelter home after the medical examination.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal took to Twitter to express her disgust at the sheer disregard of basic human rights in the case.

She tweeted, "17-year-old orphan was brought from Assam by an agency and was sold to a house in Ashok Vihar. She was made to work for 18 hours and wasn't given any food or wages. When she refused to work, she was threatened to be given for prostitution." Hailing the complainant she continued, "Someone called our helpline at 181 and immediately we got the girl rescued." Condemning such activities, she further asked, "When will the trading of daughters by placement agencies stop in Delhi?"

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The Delhi police have reportedly registered an FIR u/s 370, 323, 509, 34 of the IPC. However, the couple and the agent are yet to be arrested.