Abuse of domestic help must stop

Abuse of domestic help is quite frequent in our society. They come from an environment of extreme poverty and neglect, and thus are almost helpless. The scale of incidences of torture by householders and inmates on them is much more than are actually reported. For fear of reprisals victims often continue to suffer silently. In the case of minors it is twice more horrific and tragic.

We therefore feel that tortures and abuse of domestic help, particularly minor children, should receive special attention of the administration. While all accused of the offence should be dealt with severely, exemplary punishment should be meted out to the abusers of minor children. One of the main causes of rising incidences of abuse of domestic help appears to be the administration's failure in bringing to justice confirmed offenders. In not too distant a past we saw reports of a number of severely tortured domestic help undergoing treatment in hospitals. No one knows as to what happened either to them or the offenders thereafter.

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Domestic violence and torture has a social perspective too. Those who commit such crimes are sick in mind. It is thus important that alongside the administration our civil society particularly those involved with child and woman's rights (NGOs) also gear up their efforts in building a social awareness in this regard especially amongst the urban population, where most of such domestic help find their employment. The administration in turn should also, through the electronic and other media, embark on an extensive awareness campaign focusing on the legal and social aspects of the crimes.