Abuse of Domestic Help

A 52-year-old cyber cafe owner has been charged with raping his domestic help’s 14-year-old daughter inside his car in Powai on Saturday. Kamat, a resident of Arti Building in Amrit Nagar in Ghatkopar (West), had lured the girl to an isolated place after promising to take her shopping, the police said. [Mumbai Newsline]

To me and you there’s nothing extraordinary about this incident, right? I mean come on, every third day we hear or read of such sickening acts occurring in the back lanes, parking lots, shady motels and many a times within the four walls of a home, in this densely populated city called Mumbai. Hundreds of people from different cities, small towns, villages come here with the hope of survival. Some succeed while many get lost somewhere in the dark nights and sinister streets. It shows no mercy, be it a man or a woman or a bundle of innocence.

Last year around June another such incident had managed to create some drama – regular citizens protested on the streets, Domestic Helpers organized a dandi-march, media sensationalized every minute detail and for once the Law actually seemed to be doing its job. But then again, the age-old problematic habit of short-term memory kicked into action and we just like always moved onto the “new” topic of the day. I am talking about the murder of 10 year old domestic helper, Sonu Nirmal Kumar.

The Gajarias told the police that they had gone to Sion on the fateful day and found Sonu hanging from the ceiling upon their return. The police then registered a case and sent the body to Cooper Hospital for post mortem. The post mortem report revealed that sodomy and rape were the causes of death. [DNA]

Last bit heard, the Gajarias are still out on bail.

On a personal level, there is another side related to Domestic Helpers, especially young women that troubles me a lot. Over the past couple of years we have had two incidents where the hired maids have ran off with some roadside Romeos, only to end up dumped and pregnant. One of the girls had been with us for nearly 3 years and was considered a part of our family. I still so clearly remember my mum and sister, explaining and trying to talk some sense into her but I guess the “dreams” of a content married life had completely infected her mind.

A year or so later, she knocked on our door again but this time with a young baby girl in her hand. Sadly, we didn’t couldn’t do much – gave her some money and some more wise words.

Frankly speaking, I don’t think there is a correct procedure that one could follow in such situations, I mean you cannot hold a person back even if you know they are only walking on the path of self destruction. It’s seriously depressing watching these young girls throwing their lives away in the pretense of a better tomorrow but then again, unlike us they weren’t fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon. Its only when you think about such people, you realize that grass is not always greener on the other side.