Woman booked for assaulting domestic help, claims her maid involved in theft, mixed sleeping pills in meal

Noida, Dec 28: Noida police have booked a woman, Shefali Koul, for allegedly holding a 20-year-old domestic help hostage and assaulting her in a posh society Cleo County society in Sector 120.

Koul, who is an advocate, has been booked under sections 344 (illegal confinement beyond 10 days), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (insult) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), they said. Meanwhile, Taking to micro-blogging platform Twitter, Koul shared videos of her maid answering questions asked of her. She wrote,''I have all CCTV footage and independent witness that she has committed theft and mixed sleeping pills in my meal.''

In one of the videos, the househelp can be seen admitting that her relatives routinely come to meet her and there are no restrictions imposed on her to meet them. She also shared another video where in the maid acknowledges that her relatives have misbehaved with Koul.

An FIR has been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the househelp's father, who alleged that his daughter was held captive for nearly two months and was subjected to physical and verbal abuse by Koul.

According to the domestic help's father, who lodged the complaint with the Phase 3 police station, his daughter had a six-month work contract with Koul which ended on October 31. "After the contract ended, my daughter wanted to leave her place but she did not let her go. She held my daughter hostage at her home where she assaulted her and hurled abuses at her," the complainant alleged.

On Tuesday, the woman was trying to escape from Koul's fourth-floor apartment using a rope when someone informed the police, he said. "My daughter was then brought to the local police station," the father said.

A CCTV footage of an elevator in the society had gone viral on social media platforms on Tuesday, purportedly showing Koul dragging the domestic help out of the lift. The video is stated to be from a fortnight ago.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Saad Miya Khan said, "An FIR has been lodged at the Phase 3 police station. Evidence is being collected and further legal action would be taken accordingly."