Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren orders strict action against Gurgaon couple who assaulted 17-year-old girl

The police said the 17-year-old girl, who hails from Jharkhand, was allegedly tortured by Manish Khattar and his wife Kamaljeet Kaur for over five months before she was rescued Tuesday and admitted to a hospital with multiple injuries.

On Wednesday, Soren posted a tweet saying, “ @JharkhandPoice register an FIR in the case and take strict action. As per the information, the girl is from (Jharkhand)…Provide her with medical facilities and facilitate her return to the state…Provide/connect her with government and education schemes and facilities. @jobamajhi (Woman and Child Minister, Jharkhand) please, take note.”

The district police in Jharkhand replied to Soren’s tweet saying, “ Jai hind sir. We have got in touch with the Gurugram Police and the parents of the girl… A team is being sent to Gurugram for further investigation and rescue sir.”

The accused Manish worked as a deputy manager with a prominent life insurance company and his wife had been working with a public relations firm in Gurgaon. Both were sacked after purported photos and videos of the minor were uploaded on social media with allegations of torture and assault.

The girl told officials she was beaten with rope, and sticks, and the accused used blades which led to cuts on her arms and lips.

“They hit me with hot iron tongs and used lit matchsticks. While washing clothes and doing chores, they made me take off my clothes. Often I slept on the floor… without clothes. She tore the clothes that I had brought. He disrobed me and beat me with a stick. On one occasion, they tried to strangle me and threatened to kill me. I was given only one meal to eat at night – a small bowl of rice. I ate leftover food from the dustbin sometimes. I felt helpless and was scared to tell anyone… They said I didn’t do work on time, which is why they were beating me,” said the girl in her statement to the officials.

“She has several cut and burns on the body. She also has some lacerated wounds and abrasions, including one on the chest, and her ears are swollen,” a doctor at the hospital said.

Doctors said they would run tests and a psychological assessment to check her condition.

The police said the couple had hired the minor from a placement agency.

The police registered a case under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 34 (common intention), sections 75 and 79 of Juvenile Justice Act, and section 12 of the Pocso Act. The woman was sent to judicial custody and the man to two-day police remand.

The police said the girl was rescued after the in-charge of a one-stop centre under the women and child development department was tipped off that a minor girl was being mistreated by her employers.

In the FIR, the in-charge of the one-stop centre said she received a phone call from an unknown person informing her about a minor girl being beaten up in Gurgaon.

“I contacted the police, who rescued the girl from the house and brought her to the one-stop centre. The girl said her parents are in her village, and her maternal uncle had left her at the house of Manish Khattar and his wife Kamaljeet Kaur, and she has been doing household work and taking care of their daughter for five months,” the FIR stated.