Employer accused of holding house staff hostage, beating her in Noida

NOIDA: A lawyer has been booked for allegedly assaulting and holding her domestic help hostage inside her flat at an upscale condominium in Sector 121.
CCTV footage purportedly showing her dragging the employee out of the society's elevator was, meanwhile, circulating on social media on Tuesday.
Shaifali Koul, the lawyer, however, claimed that the allegations were concocted and that the domestic help hired from a private agency "resorted to drama" as she had a Rs 50,000 loan to repay.
The helper, the Cleo County resident said, had sedated her and robbed her house.
In the police complaint, Padam Singh claimed that his daughter had been working at Koul's house since April. Singh told the police that though the agreement between his daughter and the lawyer expired on October 31, she was held back at the house, where she worked full time. Singh also alleged his daughter's cellphone had been taken away by her employer, who forced her to continue doing all the household work and thrashed her when she refused.
Around 4am on Monday, according to Singh, his daughter tried to escape through the balcony of the fourth floor flat, climbing down using dupattas that she had knotted together. "Once she reached the ground floor, she asked the security guard of the tower to let her make a call to the police or us. He called us and after that we spoke with my daughter. I asked the guard to take care of her till we reach. In the meantime, the woman came down and forcefully took my daughter back into her house," Singh alleged.
The video showing her being dragged out of the lift repeatedly was from Monday morning, residents said, but police were yet to confirm that. "We called the police once we reached the society. Police rescued my daughter from the woman," Singh said.
Vijay Kumar, SHO of Phase 3 police station, said an FIR has been registered against the lawyer under IPC sections 344 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).
"The woman has been sent for a medical examination and appropriate action will be taken," the SHO said.
Koul, however, alleged that her employee gave her sedative-laced food on Sunday night. "After having dinner, I fell asleep very soon, which is not my habit. She stole all the jewelry and she was trying to flee from the balcony. But she fell and received injuries. The guard caught her and handed her over to me," she said.
"Before her work agreement got over, I had asked the agency to send a new domestic help. But the agency sought time till December 25. Since I am unwell, I had asked her to work till this month-end. She had also agreed to it," said Koul, adding her family had taken a Rs 50,000 loan in April, after she joined, and "started the drama" when she told them she would deduct it from her monthly salary.