Woman arrested for assaulting, keeping house help hostage

A woman from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has been arrested for allegedly holding her domestic help hostage for nearly two months.

The woman, identified as 40-year-old Shefali Koul, is a lawyer by profession and lives in a posh neighbourhood in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The incident came to light after a CCTV video of Koul brutally dragging her 20-year-old domestic help, Anita, out of an elevator went viral on social media.

The police registered a case against the woman on Wednesday and arrested her on charges of assault and holding the young woman hostage at her house. She has been booked under various sections of Indian law, including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to Anita's father, his daughter's work contract with Koul ended on October 31 this year.

"After the contract ended, my daughter wanted to leave her place but she did not allow her. She kept my daughter hostage at her home where she assaulted her and hurled abuses at her," the domestic help's father alleged," her father told The Times of India.

The help had even tried to escape from Koul's house earlier this week. She made a rope using multiple dupattas (scarves) and tried to climb down from the fourth-floor apartment, but a security guard informed Koul.

"The guard stopped me and called madam. She hit me and dragged me upstairs, choked my throat," Anita told local news channel NDTV.

"She used to beat me every day, douse me with cold water. On December 26, I had eaten a bar of jaggery, so I was beaten with slippers. Then she threatened to set me on fire and throw me down from the roof," she added as she narrated her ordeal.

However, Koul has denied all allegations levelled against her, claiming that she is innocent.