A Correspondent :
A 14-year-old domestic help was allegedly beaten by her employers in Panchlaish Hamzarbag of Chittagong city on Saturday evening.
But the employers managed to cover up the incident by paying Tk 4,000 through a negotiation with the help of a local.
The house help is the daughter of Md Mofiz, a rickshaw-puller from Baizid Shahidnagar.
On Saturday evening, the employer, Dr Romana Begum, a medical officer of Chittagong General Hospital, phoned Mofiz to inform that his daughter had stolen Tk 2,500.
She also asked him to take her back by paying Tk 6,000, the father alleged.
When the parents reached the house they found their daughter was tied to a window grille. Romana along with her sisters were beating her with pieces of wood.
“They said they would kill my daughter and dump the body in a septic tank if she does not return the money. But my daughter was repeatedly saying that she did not steal anything,” said Roshna Begum, her mother.
“Around 7:00pm, they drove us out of the house keeping my daughter inside. Local youths informed police after seeing me crying outside,” said the mother.
“Later, police rescued her from the house and asked us to get a medical certificate from Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).”
But the family went home instead and later took her to a local quack Musleh Uddin whose chamber is beside Romana’s private chamber in the area.
Musleh later took the family back to Romana’s house where he negotiated with Romana and told her to pay Tk 4,000 to the family as compensation.
Being asked, the family also gave thumbprints on a paper agreeing that they would not go for any legal action in future, said the father.
When contacted over the phone, Musleh admitted that the girl had some fresh bruises and he arranged the negotiation.
