Picture used for representative purpose only.
The social bane child labour is, what made it several times worse was a case of physical abuse in Noida, Sector 20. On Tuesday, a case of physical assault on 14-year-old Vibha Kumari shook the entire sector. The incident came to light when she scaled the walls of the house she worked in and was found by other residents weeping in a sector park.
Kumari had been employed by Vikku Shrivastava at Rs 3,000 a month to take care of his 6-month-old daughter. The toddler got her head scratched by a corner of the bed, and an infuriated Vikku Shrivastava and his wife Sarita then badly beat up Kumari with a leather belt and kicked her several times.
Residents informed the police that the child was found crying inconsolably. The police reached the spot and called volunteers of Childline India Foundation, an NGO, which then took the girl for medical examination.
Satya Prakash, the coordinator of the NGO, told City Spidey, “Medical examination revealed that the girl had been brutally beaten up with a leather belt.”
Amarnath Yadav, SO of the Sector 20 police station, said that an FIR has been lodged in this case and an investigation was under way. He added, “If the couple is found guilty, strict action will be taken against them.”
Shrivastav, a software engineer, works with an IT firm in Gurgaon, and his wife, also an IT engineer, is employed with a Noida-based firm. Kumari hails from the Begusarai district of Bihar. The girl is now at the children’s home of the NGO.
Vibha Kumari (above) shows her bruises.
