Noida: Denied to work, Zohra branded as Bangladeshi, held captive

NOIDA: There were stupid allegations that 26-year-old domestic worker Zohra Bibi, who had been working for the high-rise’s residents Harshu Sethi and his wife for six months, was an illegal Bangladeshi migrant but police denied the claim as she had all necessary documents.

Zohra Bibi, who works in the Mahagun Moderne Complex in Noida’s Sector 78, was from West Bengal, said a Facebook post by Nilanjana Bhowmick, who lives in a complex in the vicinity.

Photo Credit: PTI

She lives in a nearby slum with her husband Abdul Sattar and their three children.

“Madam said to me, if you try to run away, I’ll throw you in the dust bin. I’ll kill you,” the maid, Zohra Bibi, lying on a small cot said in a whisper, NDTV reported.

Is seems that Zohra’s decision to not to work at Sethis further does not go down well and therefore they held her captive and was beaten up.

35-year-old Mamata Bibi, a cook in the Sethi home, who accompanied Zohra Bibi to the Sethi apartment on Tuesday morning said, “While we left their house by 9 am, madam had asked her to come again in the evening to collect her dues.” “She [Zohra Bibi] had clearly stated that she did not want to work there any longer and madam was unhappy with her decision.”

Her employer Sethi’s had accused Zohra of stealing money and following a fight with her employer on Tuesday, she went missing for a day.

Her husband filed a police complaint after his wife not returned to her home throughout the day and also in the night.

Family and neighbors went to the Mahagun Moderne complex to enquire about Zohra’s whereabouts. They found Zohra’s entry registered in the society records but not her exit.

On Wednesday at around 5.30 a.m. the husband, along with his friends and neighbours gathered outside the apartment complex and tried to enter the premises by force claiming that Zohra had been kept prisoner by her employer. After two hours they barged inside the complex.

They found Zohra inside the flat in horrible condition with injury marks on her back and her clothes were torn.

Domestic helps, a largely unorganised sector, who struggle hard in the society to make ends meet becomes a victim of suspicion and harassment at the hand of affluent bosses.