Patna: A day after a man accused of kidnap died of alleged police torture in custody, a former Indian Administrative Service official has been accused of torturing his 15-year-old maid by giving her electric shocks and branding her with hot iron rods.
Retired divisional commissioner Lalan Singh and his family have gone into hiding as the police conducted raids at his Patna-based residence on Wednesday. The raids came after the victim, Rita Kumari, managed to flee the house and register a case against the family to the police.
In the first information report, Singh, his wife Dr Prabha Singh and his bodyguard have been named as the accused.
According to the victim, the official was “very cruel” and gave her electric shocks while also routinely branding her with hot iron rods for even minor faults. In the past two years working at the house, her life had turned into a veritable hell, she said.
“They used to mete out inhumane treatments to me for even minor faults. On many occasions, they gave electric shocks or sprayed chilly powder on my wounds which came up after they branded my organs with hot iron rods.” The victim broke down before the local Buddha Colony police while narrating her tales of torture.
According to her, the family would beat her when she first started working there but later they indulged in beastly acts. “Even for my smaller faults, they [the accused couple and a bodyguard] would undress me and brand my private parts with hot irons before spraying chilly powder on my wounds as I writhed in unbearable pain,” she told the police.
She was later admitted to the local government hospital for treatment.
The police said the accused would not be spared whatever their background. “The whole body of the victim bears marks of torture… she is in shock after facing years of endless torture,” said Vivekanand, the local police superintendent. He said the police were conducting raids to find the couple.
