Couple booked for human trafficking, molestation

The 17-year-old girl from Bangladesh worked as a house help for the couple

The Vile Parle police have registered a case against a couple for human trafficking after a 17-year-old girl from Bangladesh, who was rescued from Andheri station, alleged she was molested. According to the police, the couple had employed the girl as house help a year ago.

The couple had in fact registered a kidnapping case against an unknown person after the girl went missing from their residence at the Vile Parle police station.

“The couple is out of town and we are on the lookout for them,” said senior police inspector Raksha Maharao of Vile Parle police station. The 57-year-old woman is small time actress, while her husband works with a private firm in Dubai, the police said.

The girl told the police that she came to the city with her parents when she was 11. Her parents, who were working as labourers, were arrested by the police as they were illegal immigrants and deported to their country. The girl, however, was left behind. She lived with her aunt, who is also from Bangladesh, she said in her complaint. The aunt made the girl work as a house help in a few households before finally she started working with the couple at their residence in Vile Parle (East).

The girl fled the couple’s residence in March. She was found at Andheri station by the GRP officials, who sent her to the child welfare centre. She then narrated her ordeal to child welfare officer Ravi Yadav. After the girl’s statement was recorded, the complainant in the previous FIR was made the accused.