GUWAHATI, Feb 21 - A case was registered with Dispur Police Station today against a Guwahati-based veterinary doctor and his wife for alleged sexual assault, cruelty, exploitation and unlawful employment of a minor girl.
The FIR has been lodged by the Universal Team for Social Action and Help (UTSAH), an organisation working for the rights of children.
The matter came to light when the victim girl allegedly fled her employer�s house, unable to bear the ordeal, and was rescued by a team of Childline from the neighbourhood. Childline�s Nirmal Deka said the child was rescued on the night of February 1.
Miguel Das Queah, chairman, UTSAH, told this reporter that the rescued child in her statement to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Kamrup (Metro), mentioned that she had been working as a �child labour� for the last two years at Juripar, Guwahati, despite her mother�s unwillingness.
She also told the CWC that she was made to do all the household work and was frequently tortured mentally and physically.
According to the victim, she was underfed and was not allowed to keep any contact with her mother. She also said that whenever the associate professor�s wife was away, he would ask her to give him a massage. She also stated that she now wants to go back home.
Police said that the investigation is on and the facts are being verified.
The accused doctor, when contacted, however, refuted the charges, alleging that the entire episode is a concocted one. He said he had reported the incident to the police immediately after the girl had gone missing and he and his wife even appeared before the CWC.