Delhi: 16-year-old domestic worker rescued, says she was burned with a hot iron; no arrest yet

A 16-year-old girl working as a domestic help in southeast Delhi has told the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that she was burned with a hot iron and made to work around 20 hours a day. Delhi Police have registered a case, but no arrest has been made so far.

The girl was rescued on November 3 and 4 from a house in Abul Fazal Enclave-II after the Association for Voluntary Action complained to police. On the directions of the Kalkaji sub-divisional magistrate, the Labour Department, Delhi Police and NGO representatives went to the house and freed her. Her statement was recorded before a magistrate and she was produced before the CWC, which directed that she be admitted to AIIMS for treatment.

What the girl says

She told the CWC she worked from 6 am to 2 am, was often given leftover food and was beaten over minor mistakes. She said she was burned repeatedly with a hot iron on her back, hands and hips, wounded with a heated knife and kept without food and water for three days. Instead of medical care, she was given medicines from a chemist, she said. She also said she was threatened with death if she spoke about it.

The NGO said she was kept away from her parents, who could speak to her on the phone only two or three times in nearly a year, and her face was covered during those calls. Another woman had placed her in the household, and the girl was paid only ₹18,000 for nearly a year of work, the NGO said.

The case

The magistrate ordered Shaheen Bagh police station to register a case under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The police said on Saturday that the case was registered and that no one had been arrested.

The girl told the CWC what she wants next: to go back to school and become a teacher.