’Tortured’ maid lands in women care home

Went missing for a while, the domestic help was found in a home for destitute women

'Tortured' maid lands in women care home

Went missing for a while, the domestic help was found in a home for destitute women

Mamta Chettri, 18, was brought to Delhi by her aunt almost a month ago in lieu of getting a job to ease her life. Once work was found, however, her life descended into nightmare with torture and domestic servitude behind

closed doors.u00a0

The girl, who hails from from Siliguri in West Bengal was employed with Vijay Bhusan, a resident of G-28, Lajpat Nagar.

Mamta went missing since June 12, 2008 from the residence. Her relatives registered au00a0 kidnapping case at the Lajpat Nagar police station when they came to know about the incident.u00a0

They alleged that no initiative was taken by the Bhusan family to find her. Matilda Asha Gurung, the girl's relative, said, "When we approached them to talk about the issue, they denied knowing anything about it."

Last week the family of the 18-year-old also released advertisements to trace the girl. Finally, she was found atu00a0 Nirmal Chhaya, a women care home, in Hari Nagar west Delhi.

Gurung, said, "I visited her soon after getting a call from the NGO on June 11.u00a0 Mamta told me that she was beaten by her employers. She was forced to leave the house without any money and was not even allowed to contact her parents."

Au00a0 member of the Bhusan family told MiD DAY, "The allegations are baseless. We have never tortured her."
"She was recruited through an agency. We were told that she had been working as a domestic helper for almost two years. However,u00a0 she was not good at the work. The decision to left the house was her own.

Though, we wanted to send her back to the agency but the agency denied. So, we never forced her to leave the house."

A police official said, "It was not a kidnapping case. The girl has been found. We have not received any complaint regarding physical torture or ill-treatment yet."

Meanwhile, Mamta, is still at the Nirmal Chhaya house. According to the officials of the women care home, they are waiting for the girl's parents to take her home. They will have tou00a0u00a0 produce documents to prove their identity.

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