Cops rescue woman confined by salon owner

The owner of a beauty parlour allegedly locked up a female employee for three months in her flat and forced her to slog as a maid. Plain-clothes policemen freed her recently.

Sujala Begam, from Assam, got the job at Claude Salon, ITPL Main Road, through a relative three months ago. A week into the employment, Roopali, the owner of the salon, told her that some relatives had come to her flat and asked for help to clean the house. The five-bedroom flat is located on the 11th floor of Prestige Shantiniketan, an upscale township in Whitefield.

Begum agreed. But once the cleaning got over, Roopali asked her not to leave the house and locked her in. She forced her to work round the clock, taking care of seven people — Roopali, her husband, two children and two employees of the salon who were living in the same flat. Roopali would often beat Begum and lock her in the bathroom without food whenever she resisted and demanded that she be allowed to go home. Roopali even threatened to shave her head or kill her if she tried to contact her family.

Begum somehow convinced a salon employee to give her the phone so that she can speak to her family and seek help. Begum’s ordeal left her relative shocked and he arrived at the flat along with the police. But they had to return empty-handed the first time. The next day, plain-clothes policemen managed to rescue her from the bathroom. She was found tied up, her mouth gagged and there were injuries all over her body.

Police admitted her to Vydehi hospital. Police are yet to arrest Roopali who is said to be on the run. She hails from Uttar Pradesh.