Three persons booked for employing 14-year-old girl as house help

Navi Mumbai: Three persons were booked on Saturday for employing a 14-year-old girl as a house help

Navi Mumbai: Three persons were booked on Saturday for employing a 14-year-old girl as a house help. The action was taken after residents of NRI Estate, Seawoods, complained to the police about a minor girl being employed by Saket Ojha, a resident of building number 53 in phase II of NRI Estate.

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On August 28, a team of NRI Coastal police headed by senior police inspector Pramod Toradmal along with a representative of Child Helpline and a social worker, visited the flat. “By the time we reached the flat, the child had already moved somewhere and we could not find anyone there. We had asked the owner of the house to present the girl at the earliest before us,” a police officer from NRI Coastal police station said.

Upon verifying the CCTV footage, the police found that the girl was taken away by the family to an undisclosed location after they got a whiff that the society members had informed the police.

“On August 25, the girl was found in a poor state at the terrace of the building by some residents after which the society members alerted us,” the officer added.

On August 31, Ojha produced the girl before the police and on further talks with the girl, the police found that she was brought to Navi Mumbai from the hometown of Ojha in Gopalganj, Bihar, by his relatives Mercy Pandey and Manisha Mishra.

“The girl was told that she was being taken to Mumbai for a holiday and sightseeing and after reaching here, she was never taken out and was made to work. She has been rescued and handed over to the child welfare committee and is currently in a shelter home in Sanpada and is also undergoing counselling,” the officer added.

Ojha along with Pandey and Mishra have been booked under sections 14 and 4 of The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 and section 79 of the Juvenile Justice Act (care and protection) Act, 2015. “None of the accused are arrested yet and we have called them to the police station for interrogation,” the officer added.