CHENNAI: Police are probing cases of physical abuse against teenagers employed as domestic help in two cases including a complaint against the family members of an MLA.
In one incident, an 18-year-old girl who was employed as a domestic help by a legislator’s son alleged that she was branded and physically abused.
The complainant, Sita (name changed) is from Ulundurpet and completed class 12 last year. Since her father died, Sita decided to support her family by taking up domestic help jobs in Chennai and was sent to the house of an MLA’s son in April last year.
The legislator’s son and his wife allegedly assaulted the teenager regularly claiming that she was slack at work and even branded her. The girl who recently came home on Pongal shared with her mother about the series of events after which she took her to a hospital for treatment and approached the Ulundurpet police. The complaint has been forwarded to Neelankarai police for further investigations, police sources said.
In another incident, a 14 –year-old girl who was employed as a caretaker for kids at a house in Sembium police limits was allegedly beaten up by the kids’ father.
The victim girl, a class 7 dropout is from Vellore and was sent by her family two months ago. Recently, the girl opened up about the physical abuse by her employer after which the girl’s mother approached the Sembium All Women Police station with a complaint.
The employer is a male nurse at a private hospital. The victim’s family has alleged that he had beat the teenager with a belt and pipe for not taking good care of his kids. The 14-year-old was rescued and admitted to a government home.