Faced caste-based bias, physical abuse: domestic worker
A 40-year-old domestic help working in south-west Delhi has accused her employer of verbal abuse, physical assault as well as caste-based discrimination. A case has been registered under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful connement), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, said DCP (South West) Rohit Meena.
A senior o cer said if the victim wants to add allegations of caste-based discrimination to the FIR, the police will probe the charges and, based on the investigation, add relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The victim, who hails from Bihar’s Darbhanga and belongs to a Scheduled Castes community, said, “Since the beginning, she abused me based on my appearance and called me insulting names. Over the
The victim alleged that her employer did not let her touch household items or enter the kitchen
past week, she started beating me and even threatened to push me o§ the balcony.”
Outside her two-room jhuggi, the victim, who had a swollen back and scars on her right hand, lifted the dupatta from her head and pointing to an injury. “I have not been able to eat or sleep over the past few days due to pain,” she said.
In the FIR, she said her employer attacked her with a hot knife and slapped her on April 24. A day later, the accused hit her waist with a belt, the victim alleged, adding that she had not been paid her month’s salary of ₹5,000.
The victim also alleged that her employer, who is from an upper caste, did not let her touch household items or enter the kitchen.
The BJP on Saturday put up a poster outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s o cial residence, calling it a “den of corruption”.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of indulging in fraud, alleging that irregularities were committed in the renovation of the CM House.
He also alleged that statements of approvers in the excise policy case show that “shady deals” were done in the CM House.
“As the CM is lodged in jail [in a money laundering case], his o ce at the o cial residence should be closed to avoid loss to the exchequer,” said the BJP leader.
In response, AAP spokesperson Reena Gupta said the CM’s arrest is a “conspiracy designed to prevent him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha election”.
“In a party survey conducted in Delhi, people had unequivocally asked him to continue governing even from behind bars. His arrest marks an unprecedented dark moment in Indian history,” she said.