A case was registered against the brother of a Union minister under SC/ST Act for allegedly harassing two minor girls employed as maids.
A case was on Thursday registered against the brother of a Union minister under SC/ST Act for allegedly harassing two minor girls employed as maids, a senior police officer said here.
Pramod Jaiswal, brother of Union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, has been accused by the two girls -- Poonam and Asrita -- of harassing them and not allowing them to return to their homes.
"On the complaint of the two girls, a case has been registered against Pramod under section 342 of IPC (for wrongful confinement) and relevant sections of SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act," Kanpur range DIG Hari Ram Sharma said.
Sharma said Poonam, 16, and Asrita, 15, both of them residents of Jharkhand, escaped from Jaiswal's house in Chakeri area of the city on Wednesday and reached local police station where they complained of the alleged ill-treatment meted out to them by Pramod.
The girls alleged that they were confined by Pramod in the house for several days and one of them was not even allowed to go home when she lost her father.
They claimed that Pramod had employed them on a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 but they were not given a single paisa and were subjected to coercion and harassment.
Pramod, however, refuted the charges saying that the girls were major and were wilfully working in his house.
The girls were being provided with the promised salary, foods and clothing, Pramod claimed adding that the case was a conspiracy by his detractors to sully his image.
Police said that the maids have been sent for medical examination to ascertain whether they are minors.
Asmita had been working in Jaiswal's house for the last one year while Poonam joined the work a month back, they said.
Sharma said that the families of the girls have been informed about the incident.
"Till their guardians arrive here, the girls will be kept in the womens police station," he said.
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