A six-year-old girl, allegedly employed as a domestic help by an ailing septuagenarian, was rescued from a flat in J.C. Nagar on Thursday afternoon.
The girl, believed to be the youngest domestic help rescued in the city in recent times, had been employed by Nagma, a cardiac patient, who lives alone as her children are abroad. One of the residents of the apartment complex tipped off the RTE Task Force, an NGO, which coordinated with the police.
Nagma claimed that she had not employed the child, but Shahid, a person from her village, had brought the girl to help her out, a senior police officer said.
Vani Chaitanya of RTE Task Force said, “The girl was not paid, but was being treated like a domestic help, and her living conditions were horrible. She was staying in a small space and had to wash her clothes. She would help the old woman with the house chores. The girl looks malnourished and was unclean. The woman had got the girl discontinue her schooling. The girl doesn’t seem to remember the names of her parents.”
Police said Shahid, who the old woman claimed to have brought the girl to her, claimed to be a relative of the girl and offered to take back the girl home. The girl has been handed over to Child Welfare Committee, which has registered a case and are further probing the case.
Child labourers rescuedMeanwhile, sleuths from Central Crime Branch (CCB) raided three bag making units in Russell Market and rescued 18 minor children working in the units. Abhishek Goyal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said all the children are from Motihari district in Bihar and had been working in these units from many months. He said the working and living conditions of these children were very bad and they were forced to work for more than 10 hours a day.
Police have arrested Mohammed Riyazuddin, who owns one of the units, and nine others who were present in the units at the time of the raid. Shivajinagar police registered a case.
