She had no signs of depression, the maid's mother said. She suspects her daughter was raped by her employer and then killed.
A 19-year-old domestic help allegedly committed suicide at AWHO, a residential society in the Kasna area of Greater Noida, on Sunday evening. However, the family alleged that she was murdered by her owner, as there were strangulation marks on her neck. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of suicide. However, the post-mortem reports are awaited.
According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Shivani. She was found hanging from the ceiling fan inside her owner’s house, where she had been working for the past four months.
“Around 5 pm, we got a call from Mukul Gupta, her employer, saying that she had committed suicide," said Suniti, superintendent of police (Rural), Gautam Buddha Nagar. "She was immediately rushed to the Yatharth Hospital in Sector 110. Gupta also informed the deceased’s family of the incident and asked them to reach the hospital as soon as possible.”
According to a senior hospital official, Shivani was brought to the hospital by Mukul Gupta around 5.45 pm and was declared brought dead on arrival. “There were no injury marks on her body, apart from some on the neck,” the official said.
According to the family members of the deceased, Mukul Gupta’s mother had sought their permission to keep Shivani in their house for the night.
The elderly lady told the police that Shivani had locked the room from the inside while committing the act, and hence the security guard had to break open the door.
Shivani’s mother is inconsolable, as she claims to have met Shivani only half an hour before she ended her life. Speaking to the police, she voiced her suspicion that Shivani was raped by Mukul and then killed. “Afterwards, he hung her body from the ceiling to make it appear like a case of suicide,” she said, adding that her daughter had revealed no signs of depression even on the evening of this incident.
This morning, about 100 people, including maids and relatives of the deceased, had staged a protest outside the society gate and demanded the arrest of Mukul Gupta. The incident has also created a sense of insecurity among maids in the society.
“We have lodged an FIR against Mukul Gupta under Section 302 [murder] on the basis of the complaint filed by Mukesh, the deceased’s father. We are investigating the matter,” informed a senior police official.
