Delhi family to pay Rs 2.18 lakh for employing trafficked woman

RANCHI: Twenty-five-year-old Anjali (name changed) is excited to return home to her family after five years. She was lured to Delhi by a cousin on the pretext of a job five years ago, but things did not turn up as she had expected.
On reaching Delhi, her cousin sister took her to a placement agency, from where she was placed as domestic help in a household in Pashchim Vihar area.Anjali spent over three years with her employee. She was not only confined inside the house but beaten up brutally. She was neither given any proper food nor paid a single rupee for her work.
The girl was finally rescued by Delhi Police and Shakti Vahini in May last year, following which she was kept in a shelter home in Delhi. The police managed to trace her family and now, Jharkhand police has left for the national capital to bring her home.
It was only recently that Anjali got to know that her mother had passed away three years ago.
Talking to TOI over the phone, Anjali said, "I still cannot believe that I am not going to see my mother again. I wish I had never left. However, I am looking forward to meeting my father and my three siblings after such a long time."
Meanwhile, the girl's employers were booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code, mostly grievous hurt, unlawful labour and unlawful confinement. The employers were also booked under the Bonded Labour System (abolition) Act, 1976.
The employers told Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) that they hired the girl from Kamat Placement Agency and paid Rs 22,000 for the first year and Rs 20,000 for the second year to the agency. They admitted that they did not pay any wages to the girl.
The commission has directed the employers to pay a total of Rs 2.18 lakh to the girl as compensation. Once the girl arrives at Chaibasa, her bank account will be opened by the district administration in which the compensation amount will be deposited.