Minor forced to work as domestic help rescued from north west Delhi

NEW DELHI: Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Thursday said that help from Delhi Police and the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), they have rescued a 16-year-old girl who was forced to work as a domestic help from north west Delhi’s Kingsway Camp area.

After it received a complaint about the girl, DCW immediately sent a team to the given address and informed the police as well as the concerned ADM.

In its press release, DCW said that initially, the owner of the house did not allow the team to enter the house for few hours.

Eventually, police threatened to break the gate, the house was reluctantly opened.

When the team of DCW members, policemen and ADM entered the house, they found the minor girl in a frightened state, initially unable to speak anything.

After counselling, the girl opened up and informed that she belongs to Jharkhand.

She stated that her parents died when she was a child and she was brought up by her grandparents.

Later, she was brought to Delhi by a employment placement agent, where she was forced to work as a domestic help for a salary of Rs 3,000 per month. However, the girl said she was not paid a single rupee.

She told DCW that she was even threatened by the employer and forced to work even when she was ill. The employer held her captive and did not allow her to go outside.

DCW said that an FIR has been registered in the matter under sections 75 and 79 of the Juvenile Justice Act, Section 3 and 14 of the Child Labour Act, Section 16 of the Bounded Labour act and section 370 and 374 of the IPC.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal said, “Placement agencies are running a trafficking nexus which needs to be curbed. I appeal to all stakeholders to regulate functioning of placement agencies. CWC should immediately ensure payment recovery of the girl wages.”