JOIN USSuspended Ranchi BJP leader who tortured maid arrested
Jharkhand police on Wednesday arrested suspended BJP leader Seema Patra, wife of a retired IAS officer, on allegations of torturing her 29-year-old tribal help Sunita, police sources said.
Acting on a tip-off from a government employee, the Ranchi Police had rescued the woman from Patra's residence last week and recorded the domestic help' statement on Tuesday before a magistrate, sources said. Patra had allegedly kept the woman captive in her residence in Ranchi's posh Ashok Nagar area for several years.
Patra was suspended by BJP after a video of the woman, Sunita, narrating her ordeal, went viral on social media with demands for Patra's arrest.
Governor Ramesh Bais too on Tuesday asked DGP Neeraj Sinha as to why no action has been taken against suspended BJP leader. Members of various tribal outfits visited Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) where the woman is undergoing treatment and met her on Tuesday.
The domestic helper, working as a maid at Seema Patra's house, had suffered dozens of injuries on her body after she was allegedly burnt with a hot pan. The teeth of the victim were also broken with an iron rod. She was not able to stand on her own as she was locked in a room, not provided food and water.
Hailing from the tribal community, Sunita is a native of a village in Gumla. About 10 years ago, she was brought to work as a maid in the house of retired IAS Maheshwar Patra and BJP leader Seema Patra. Later she was sent to Delhi with her daughter Vatsala Patra. After her transfer from Delhi, Sunita came back to Ranchi at Seema Patra's house. She was always harassed while working there and when she asked for permission to go home, she was beaten up and locked in the room.
Due to continuous thrashing, Sunita was so incapacitated that she was not able to walk. If Sunita's urine accidentally went out of the room, she had to clean it by licking it with her mouth.
(With agency inputs)