Woman held for torturing domestic help gets bail

A 22-year-old engineering student, who was arrested by Faridabad Police for allegedly torturing her 13-year-old domestic help over the last two years, was granted bail by a district court on Friday, a day after she was arrested. “We challenged the accused’s bail plea today, but it was granted. We intend to go through the order and decide the next step. Most likely, we will challenge the order,” said Hanif Qureshi, Faridabad Commissioner of Police.

The accused, Sneha, is a college student and hails from Bihar, where her father owns mines. Her domestic help’s ordeal was revealed on Wednesday morning, when she attempted to climb into the neighbour’s balcony to escape further torture. She fell off and landed on the balcony of an empty flat below. She was rescued five hours later, after her employer alerted guards, police said.

“The child was seriously tortured while she was with the accused. She would tie her mouth with plastic and her hands with dog leashes before hitting her,” said Bal Krishan Goel, a member of the Haryana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The victim is admitted to a hospital in Faridabad. Goel said the commission has no intention of handing her over to her parents “who work in the mines of the accused’s father, and had sent the girl to work for her”.