Tribal panel orders police to recover salary of girl who worked for 9 years without pay

NEW DELHI: A young girl, who was working as a domestic help without any salary for nine years, was rescued from northwest Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area last week but Delhi Police and Chhattisgarh Police haven’t reportedly started the process of recovering her compensation from her employers.

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribe (NCST) has now sought an explanation from the police on the matter.

The girl is from the Naxalaffected area of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh and was recovered last week from a house in Mukherjee Nagar. She was brought to Delhi in 2006 and was forced to work as a domestic help.

“She narrated her tale to a neighbour, who wrote an email to Shakti Vahini. We conducted a recce and rescued her with the help of the police. The girl was handed over to Chhattisgarh police,” said Rishi Kant, an activist with Shakti Vahini NGO.

After Shakti Vahini got to know that even the Chhattisgarh Police did not register an FIR, it approached the NCST. “There was a daily diary entry in the Mukherjee Nagar police station. She was forced to work in bonded condition and this is a clear case of bonded labour and illegal confinement. No wages of the girl has been recovered as per the bonded labour act. We have written to the Chhattisgarh police and to the commission for necessary action,” said Ravi Kant, president of Shakti Vahini.

After the g i rl reached Chhattisgarh, she got to know about the death of her father and has no source of income now. She was handed over to her uncle. “This is when a better rehabilitation plan comes handy. It was the job of Delhi Police to act promptly but they just completed the formality. It is up to the government to ensure that she gets her due wages and should not become vulnerable to trafficking again,” said Rishi Kant.