'Hit with Hot Tongs, Lit Matchsticks, Tore Clothes': For 5 Months, Gurugram Couple 'Tortured' Domestic Help

A 14-year-old girl from Jharkhand was mercilessly beaten, sexually harassed and tortured with blade and hot metal by a couple in Gurugram for over five months. The duo from New Colony, who work in private companies, had hired the minor to look after their child.

The accused have been identified as Manish Khattar and his wife Kamaljeet Kaur. While Khattar worked as a deputy manager with a prominent life insurance company, his wife had been working with a public relations firm in Gurgaon.

The girl was allegedly tortured and sexually harassed for months before a joint team of police and Sakhi, a one-stop crisis centre, rescued her earlier this week. Several injuries were found on her hands, feet and mouth, the police said.

Victim Narrates Her Ordeal

“I was given only one meal to eat at night – a small bowl of rice. I ate leftover food from the dustbin sometimes. I felt helpless and was scared to tell anyone… They said I didn’t do work on time, which is why they were beating me,” the report quoted her as saying.

What the FIR States

In the FIR, the in-charge of ‘Sakshi’ said she received a phone call from an unknown person, informing her about a minor girl being beaten up in Gurgaon. The girl said her parents are in her village and her maternal uncle had left her at the house of Khattars, the complaint stated.

“The victim said Kamaljeet used to hit her with heated iron tongs. She said she was not given enough food to eat… the couple used to make her work the entire day. They had confined her in the house and did not allow her to talk to her family over the phone. The girl said that the couple used to beat her a lot,” the FIR further stated.

What Police Said

“The accused couple have been arrested. The minor girl’s statement was recorded before a duty magistrate on Wednesday afternoon,” the Indian Express report quoted Gurgaon police spokesperson Subhash Boken as saying. He added that the couple had hired the minor from a placement agency.

A case has been registered under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 34 (common intention), sections 75 and 79 of Juvenile Justice Act, and section 12 of the POCSO Act. The woman has been sent to judicial custody and the man to two-day police remand.

How the Couple’s Employers’ Reacted

Udit Sagar Pathak, founder of PR firm Media Mantra, was quoted as saying by Indian Express that the company had decided to terminate Kamaljeet Kaur’s services with immediate effect.

Khattar’s employer, Max Life Insurance, tweeted that they “believe in upholding high levels of ethical and moral conduct at all times. We have severed the employment of the individual with immediate effect”.

Statement from Crisis Centre

Nishi Kant, executive director Shakti Vahini, childline Gurgaon, was quoted as saying that their team has contacted the girl’s family in her village in Jharkhand and are coordinating with authorities in her rescue and rehabilitation.

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