18-year-old domestic help jumps to death from DLF flat

Initial reports said that Ranjitha had committed suicide, while friends and relatives of the deceased alleged foul play and demanded a detailed probe in to her death.

An 18-year-old girl from Assam, who used to work as a domestic help at Carlton estate condominium complex in DLF Phase 5, allegedly committed suicide late on Friday.

The deceased, identified as Ranjitha Brahma, who belonged to the Boro community from Assam, reportedly jumped from the 11th floor of Tower-4 of the complex at around 11 pm, police said.

The deceased, identified as Ranjitha Brahma, who belonged to the Boro community from Assam, reportedly jumped from the 11th floor of Tower-4 of the complex at around 11 pm, police said. The girl was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared brought dead.

She had reportedly begun to work as a domestic help for one Rohit Mehta, a top executive with a multi-national banking company, and his wife Sonal Mehta, only a few of days ago.

Initial reports said that Ranjitha had committed suicide, while friends and relatives of the deceased alleged foul play and demanded a detailed probe in to her death.

Sources said the deceased girl wanted to leave the job. She had reportedly contacted two of her friends, who were employed in nearby localities, to come and pick her from the house. They said she had even packed her bags, but the couple allegedly did not let her go.

“What I have gathered is that the girl had called her friends so that she could leave the job and return to Assam as she did not like the work place and the city. Two of her friends had come to the condominium to take her, but they were prevented from entering the complex by security guards, reportedly on the instruction from flat owners. They waited for around two hours, but left when the wait yielded no result,” said Maya John, who works for Centre for Struggling Women, an NGO.

A case under Section 306 of IPC (abetment of suicide) was registered at Sushant Lok police station against the couple. Gaurav Phogat, SHO, Sushant Lok police station, said, “The cause of death would be established only after the postmortem is conducted on Sunday.”

A large number of Boro women from Assam work as maids in Delhi-NCR and there have been a number of cases in which they have been beaten, and brutalised by employers.