The Kancheepuram district police have registered a case against a Chennai-based couple who forced a 16-year-old girl working as a domestic help in their house into sex work.

In their complaint with Kancheepuram SP Santhosh Hadimani, the parents of the girl alleged that their daughter was drugged by the couple and illegally confined to the house and forced into sex.

The police have now launched a manhunt to nab the couple and investigate the involvement of others in the crime. The parents, in their complaint, alleged that the couple, Arputharaj and Velankanni, also native of the same village near Uthiramerur, had asked them to send their 16-year-old daughter to work as a domestic help in their house last November.

Initially the parents refused but agreed later after much persuasion and sent the girl for work. For Easter, they asked the couple to send their daughter home who was crying often.

According to the complaint, the parents learnt that their daughter was sexually exploited by the couple. The girl was taken to several places in Chennai and forced into sex work after being drugged and illegally confined in apartments. The police said a gang had allegedly threatened the parents to withdraw the complaint.