Jharkhand woman trafficked as minor rescued from Gurugram home after five years

Police said the woman, a resident of Sahibganj district in Jharkhand, was allegedly brought to Delhi in 2021 by a woman who promised her a job. At the time, she was a minor, officials said

A 23-year-old tribal woman from Jharkhand, who was allegedly trafficked to Delhi as a minor and forced to work as a domestic help without pay for nearly five years, was rescued from a businessman’s residence in Gurugram’s Sector 40 on Friday, police officers said.

The case came to light after the victim secretly used her employer’s mobile phone around two months ago to call her brother in Jharkhand and ask her family to rescue her, officials said. (Representational image)

The rescue was carried out by a joint team comprising officials from the Gurugram police anti-human trafficking unit, the district administration, the Jharkhand government and Delhi-based NGO Mission Mukti Foundation.

Police said the woman, a resident of Sahibganj district in Jharkhand, was allegedly brought to Delhi in 2021 by a woman who promised her a job. At the time, she was a minor, officials said.

According to police and NGO officials, she was told she could work in Delhi for six months, earn money and return home. Instead, she was allegedly handed over to operators of a placement agency, who placed her as a domestic worker at multiple homes over the years.

Officials said she was eventually placed at a businessman’s residence in Gurugram nearly two years ago, where she continued to work without receiving any salary. Police said the family allegedly paid ₹8,000 per month to the placement agent as the victim’s salary, apart from an annual commission of ₹50,000, but the woman never received any money.

“The complainant was virtually kept as forced labour at the Sector 40 house without being paid even once. All the money was allegedly pocketed by the agent,” said Virendra Kumar Singh, director of Mission Mukti Foundation.

He added that the family also prevented her from contacting relatives in Jharkhand.

“The family could have easily helped her contact her relatives in Jharkhand, but they never allowed her to speak to them. Instead, they continued paying the agent every month rather than the victim herself,” Singh said.

Police said the woman was not informed about her father’s death in 2024. She learnt about it later through an associate of the placement agent and repeatedly requested permission to return home, but was allegedly not allowed to leave.

“She used to weep daily and request the couple to let her go home. However, they kept putting her off, saying they could only let her leave with the permission of the agent,” Singh said.

The case came to light after the victim secretly used her employer’s mobile phone around two months ago to call her brother in Jharkhand and ask her family to rescue her, officials said.

Rahul Singh, an official with the Jharkhand government’s department of women and child development posted at Jharkhand Bhawan in Delhi, said the woman’s mother arrived in Delhi on Wednesday seeking help from authorities.

Officials said the mother approached Jharkhand Bhawan after learning that a rescue cell operated there. The authorities then coordinated with the NGO and sought intervention from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Police said NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo took cognisance of the matter after being approached by the NGO and wrote to Gurugram police and district authorities on Friday, following which the rescue operation was launched.

The NGO director said they traced the victim’s location using the mobile number from which she had contacted her family.

“We called the number while impersonating delivery agents and managed to get the address. The information was passed on to police, following which the rescue took place,” Singh said.

Officials said the woman was rescued from the apartment on Friday and reunited with her mother.

“The two broke down while hugging each other tightly in front of officials,” a police officer involved in the operation said.

Police said the family had also failed to carry out mandatory police verification of the domestic worker.

An FIR is yet to be registered. Police said they are examining the role of the placement agents, including the woman who allegedly brought the victim to Delhi, as well as the family she worked for in Gurugram.