Domestic help dies in Ludhiana, kin accuse employer

A 17-year-old domestic help was found dead under mysterious circumstances near his house in Rajpura Colony on Monday night. The kin of the deceased staged a protest outside the house of the employer in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, alleging that employer had killed the boy and dumped his body in Rajpura Colony. They also blocked traffic near Nehru Rose Garden on Tuesday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Bhagirath of Rajpura Colony, who was working as a domestic help at the house of Sushil Kumar of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar for the past six months.

The victim’s sister, Kamini, told the police that he had not been going to work for the past three days. He had told her that he didn’t want to work at the house anymore as the employer’s wife used to misbehave with him and abuse him. She added that on Monday afternoon, the employer’s wife turned up at their house and forcibly took Bhagirath with her.

The victim’s sister alleged that on Monday night, the employer threw Bhagirath from their car outside the house and fled. “When he was thrown out of the car, he was unconscious. A neighbour called an ambulance and rushed him to the Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead,” she alleged.

On the other hand, the employer told the police that Bhagirath was unwell and so they dropped the boy home after taking him to a doctor. On Tuesday morning, the kin of deceased gathered outside the house of the employer and staged a protest. Police had to be called in as the situation turned tense. District youth Congress president Rajiv Raja also came out in support of the protestors.

The police pacified the protestors and asked them to file a complaint. Inspector Pawan Kumar said that the complaint has been received and the police will register a case after investigation. The police have initiated proceedings under Sections 174 of CrPC for now. Further action will be taken according to the post-mortem report.