Police in India are investigating a complaint of abuse filed by a maid working in a gated community near the Indian capital New Delhi that sparked violence in the upscale neighbourhood.
The maid lodged a complaint saying her employers had abused her, beaten her, locked her up and were withholding her salary, police said on Thursday.
More than four million people are employed as domestic workers in India, most of them women, according to official data, and they are often exploited in the absence of legal protection, campaigners say.
India’s rising affluence and growing numbers of working women have spurred demand for such workers, and campaigners say there are likely to be millions more working in the unregulated sector.
Family and friends of the maid, Zohra Bibi, gathered to protest outside the Noida flat complex in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Stones were thrown at security guards, and riot police were called in.
According to police, Bibi’s employers accused her of stealing money. They also filed a complaint against her family, saying her relatives destroyed their property, they said.