‘She was forced to drink toilet cleaner after she told her colleagues’: Kin of 15-year-old employee raped by factory manager

The incident took place on July 2 when the accused called the girl to his house on the pretext of his wife’s illness. The girl’s family alleged that the accused’s wife held her down while she was raped and bolted the door.

“She was threatened by the manager and his wife and didn’t tell anyone. However, on July 5, she confided in her two friends who also work at the factory. They scolded her for hiding this and asked her to rush home and immediately inform her parents. In the meantime, they called the accused and threatened to take action against him. The girl was walking home when the accused caught her and took her to an isolated spot. He made her consume the toilet cleaner and again threatened her. She somehow managed to reach home but fell unconscious,” said a police source.

A PCR call was made almost 10 days later as the girl was undergoing treatment at AIIMS. Her family alleged they were not sure about the incident at first.

Her mother said, “We had told doctors that she ate something bad and fell sick. However, her reports revealed she consumed a corrosive liquid with acid in it. Two-three days after the incident, her friends came to us and told us about the rape. We were shocked and scared. We wanted to be sure before reporting it to police.”

The girl’s father, a factory worker, had confronted him but he lied and said his employees were targeting him for no reason. Later, on July 14-15, the girl told her parents about the rape.

The family said they have known the accused for 4-6 months. He earlier worked at a car company near their house and later he and his wife worked at the same shoe factory.

“My daughter didn’t tell us anything out of fear. We wish we knew things. We trusted the man and his wife… She told us he fed her toilet cleaner,” said the mother. Due to burns caused by the liquid in her mouth and throat, the girl cannot speak properly and has to eat food with the help of tubes.

Police said on July 15, they received a PCR call from the victim’s brother regarding the incident. They recorded her statement after the doctor’s approval the next day.

The family moved to the city about a year ago from Bihar. Of the family’s four children, all but one work in a factory. The mother said, “My daughter had studied up to Class 8 before we came here. My husband contracted dengue and we needed money. She started to work to help us… The owner of the factory said he would bear the cost of any treatment. But we don’t want any money. We want justice for our daughter.”

She also alleged the accused had harassed many girls and that they had also been threatened to keep quiet.

DCP (Outer) Sameer Sharma said, “The accused was arrested while a search is on to apprehend his wife. A case has been filed under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 376 (rape), and 34 (common intention) along with Section 6 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.”

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) had also issued a notice to the police in connection with the matter. DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said: “We have received a very serious complaint of rape and attempt to murder of a 15-year-old girl. The girl was allegedly forcibly made to drink acid. Our team is constantly monitoring the condition of the girl and providing all possible assistance to her and her family.”