Ayesha of Sirsi, Uttara Kannada district, is now in the ICU of a private hospital.
She was reportedly hired by Abdul Salam, a resident of the apartment in Attavar for domestic work. According to the house owner, the girl was employed through a middleman about eight days ago. When Ayesha reportedly tried to escape, she was alone and the house was locked from outside.
On learning about the incident, the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) visited the hospital on Thursday and alerted Mangalore East (Kadri) police. The CWC took suo motu action under JJ Act, 2000. “We are yet to learn about Ayesha’s parents, who are on their way to Mangalore. We need to verify her age too,” said CWC member Renny D’Souza. Labour Inspector Krishnamma said her parents have admitted that she is 15 years old. Speaking to reporters at the hospital, Abdul Salam, a hotelier who has establishments in Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka, said he was not at home when the incident took place. He denied the fact that the girl tried to escape.
Meanwhile, Ayesha, who had earlier admitted that she tried to escape from the house, later changed her version.
CWC member Geo D’Silva told Deccan Herald that the girl had admitted she wanted to escape from the house.
However Ayesha, in her statement to Pandeshwar police (the case was transferred to Pandeshwar police limits) in the evening stated that she fell from the fourth floor as she felt giddy. The girl apparently had thrown her belongings outside the flat before jumping off the building. Even Abdul Salam kept changing his statements when reporters approached him. He first said the girl was brought just one day ago. Later, he said she had been there for eight days. He claimed that the girl was 17 years old, but her age was wrongly registered in the hospital as 15 years. “We used to lock the house just because the girl is new to the area,” he said.
