Burns, bruises show brutal assault on minor help: Delhi Police

Meanwhile, three men who were part of the crowd that assaulted the couple before the police were informed on Wednesday were also arrested

At least half a dozen injuries, including a couple of burns caused by a hot electric iron, were found on the body of the 10-year-old girl who was rescued on Wednesday from the flat of her employers, the medical examination of the girl has revealed. The couple, a 33-year-old woman pilot and her 36-year-old husband, allegedly tortured the girl after employing her as their domestic help, police said on Thursday.

The burns appeared old and partially healed but the other injuries on the girl’s body such as her swollen and red eyes looked fresh, suggesting that she was punched recently, police said. (Representational image)

Meanwhile, three men who were part of the crowd that assaulted the couple before the police were informed on Wednesday were also arrested in a separate case registered on the couple’s complaint, police added. “The arrested people were identified as Jitan Singh, Guddu, and Anil. Some others have also been identified and will be arrested soon,” said deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Harsha Vardhan.

“The burns appeared old and partially healed but the other injuries on the girl’s body such as her swollen and red eyes looked fresh, suggesting that she was punched recently. The girl told us that she was physically assaulted on Tuesday. She alleged the couple tortured her even for minor mistakes like not sweeping the flat properly. The couple, on the other hand, maintained that all allegations were false,” added DCP Vardhan.

The couple, Poornima Bagchi and her husband Kaushik Bagchi, were arrested from their rented flat in a four-storey building in Dwarka Sector 8 on Wednesday after the girl was rescued by her relatives and some locals. While Poornima was sent to 14 days of judicial custody on Wednesday itself, Kaushik was produced before the Delhi court concerned on Thursday which also sent him to 14 days of judicial custody.

Poornima works with IndiGo Airlines and Kaushik is a ground staff with Vistara Airlines, according to police. Meanwhile, senior police officers associated with the case said that the couple appeared “remorseless” and “deceptive” during interrogation.

“The couple did not show any remorse when we interrogated them. They said they did not torture the girl, even claimed that they did not know the girl was a minor or that it was a crime to employ children. A forensic psychologist also examined Kaushik who said he was remorseless and deceptive,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity.

Advocate Dheeraj Sharma, the couple’s lawyer, said the police are trying to make a strong case against them by saying that his clients have psychological issues. Sharma also questioned the allegations of the girl’s relatives and the timing of her rescue.

“We have reasons to believe that everything was planned and executed with intent to extort money from my clients. How come the girl’s relatives reached the flat at the same time as she was on the balcony? If my clients really tortured her, why would they take the risk of letting the girl reach the balcony?” asked Sharma.

The couple was booked for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons of means, wrongful confinement, buying or disposing of any person as a slave, and cruelty to child under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 323, 324, 342, 370, and 75, Juvenile Justice Act and Child Labour Act. The case was registered at Dwarka South police station.

DCP Vardhan added that, so far, the girl has not alleged mental torture, nor did it come up during her counselling. However, the girl’s relatives said the couple did not give her food or let her step out of the flat. They alleged that the couple hardly let her meet or speak with her parents. “My niece told me that when she asked to speak to her parents, they either refused or made her talk to them over the phone in their presence. They threatened her and said they would beat her up if she told her parents about the torture,” the girl’s aunt alleged on Wednesday.

The DCP said that the girl was sent to a shelter home since her parents were yet to reach Delhi to take her custody. “We will visit the flat to inspect and collect evidence, including the electric iron that the girl alleged was used to burn her. The items will be sent for forensic examination,” added Vardhan.

Following the incident, IndiGo said it has derostered the woman pilot. “We are currently investigating the matter. Meanwhile, the employee has been derostered from all official duties,” an IndiGo spokesperson said in a statement.

Vistara Airlines, too, said they derostered Kaushik from all official duties. “An incident of abuse has been brought to our notice, allegedly involving a Vistara employee. We will extend complete support to law and enforcement agencies. Meanwhile, we have derostered the employee concerned from his duties,” a Vistara spokesperson said.