Chennai: A 18-year-old Dalit woman hailing from Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi district has given a statement to the police that she was abused while she was working as a domestic help in a house in Chennai.
The incident took a political turn since she was working for the son and daughter-in-law of DMK MLA I Karunanidhi. BJP’s Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai posted on X that it shows the arrogance of the DMK and called for speedy investigation.
During the Pongal festival holidays, the woman had gone back to her family in Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi. She went to a government hospital where she was treated for abrasions as an outpatient, police said. The hospital recorded it in their accident registry and informed the Ulundurpet police who in turn informed the Adyar police in Chennai.
“We sent a lady police officer to record a statement from her (victim),” said an officer of the Adyar police who did not wish to be named. The statement was recorded from 10pm on Wednesday beyond midnight. But since no FIR has been registered so far, the victim has sent another complaint to the Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Jiwal.
“I was 17 years old when I was taken to do domestic work and beaten with things like slippers, spoons, broom and mops, leaving bloody wounds all over my body,” the woman said in a complaint which HT has seen. Of the couple, the daughter-in-law tortured her more by assaulting her, cutting her hair, she said. She has completed Class 12 last year scoring 433 marks out of 600, she said adding that she wanted to pursue coaching for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to study medicine and worked to earn the money since they are economically poor. Her mother worked as a domestic help in another house in Chennai. She added that though she was promised a monthly salary of ₹16,000, she was given only ₹5000.
{{/usCountry}}“I was 17 years old when I was taken to do domestic work and beaten with things like slippers, spoons, broom and mops, leaving bloody wounds all over my body,” the woman said in a complaint which HT has seen. Of the couple, the daughter-in-law tortured her more by assaulting her, cutting her hair, she said. She has completed Class 12 last year scoring 433 marks out of 600, she said adding that she wanted to pursue coaching for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to study medicine and worked to earn the money since they are economically poor. Her mother worked as a domestic help in another house in Chennai. She added that though she was promised a monthly salary of ₹16,000, she was given only ₹5000.
{{/usCountry}}Madurai based anti-caste activist Vincent Raj said that the police have informed time that an FIR will be filed shortly. “When she was a minor she has been tortured for more than eight months,” he said. “She turned 18 only last month. The strictest action must be taken.”
“I urge on behalf of BJP Tamil Nadu that a speedy investigation be conducted immediately and action be taken against culprits under the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act,” Annamalai posted on X.
DMK’s Karunanidhi did not respond to HT’s calls and messages at the time of writing.