Look at ourselves, before we accuse others of racism etc

Rescued girl's plight shows child labour is rampant

By Nilima Pathak, Correspondent
Published: June 11, 2009, 23:04

New Delhi:
At the age of 11, when girls of her age are pampered by their parents, Anjali faced beatings and the nightmare of work.

When she could not bear the torture any more, she ran away from the house of her employers, who lived in Anand Vihar, a colony in east Delhi.

On a day when the world remembers the fight against child labour, the sordid reality of exploitation comes true in Anjali's case.

"I was studying in Class 5... in Kolkata, West Bengal. I was very keen to see Delhi, as I had heard many stories about its beauty and that one could earn a respectable living in this huge city. At my insistence, my parents approached a placement agency and I was sent here," she said.

Anjali's woes began from the very first day. She was made to cook and wash the dishes. She said: "I was so nervous that I broke a dish and was slapped for it."

It became a routine. The girl was beaten and kicked by the lady employer.

"One day I gathered the courage and spoke to the man of the house about the ill-treatment at the hands of his wife.

"I thought he would treat me with care, as he doted on his child. But instead of taking my side, he scolded me and thereafter he also started raising his hand on me.

"Throughout the night mummy [her employer] would instruct me to press her legs. Once she was hospitalised and I was made to stay with her and nurse her even there."

Promised a sum of Rs2,000 (Dh154.7) per month, Anjali never got paid for the two years she worked with them.

Whenever the woman from the placement agency called to enquire from her, the employers would sit next to the phone and warn her to speak well about them or they would thrash her.

"I had no choice but to bear it all. And had no phone number to somehow approach my parents," she said, wistfully.

Anjali is fortunate to have been rescued by a voluntary organisation, which is looking after her for the time being. "I am taking vocational training and want to go back to my parents soon," she said.

On being rescued, she was taken to the court where the court ordered the Third Battalion of the Delhi Police to find out the whereabouts of her parents and repatriate the girl.

Anjali has, meanwhile, passed the entrance test of a Municipal Corporation of Delhi School. However, she has no desire to stay in the city now.

"I want to study further and take up a job in my hometown. I have learnt my lesson the hard way and will never dream of coming to the city again," she said.