For the ‘crime’ of stealing and eating chocolates and sweets, a 10-year-old girl, Renu Mhatre (name changed as she is a minor), was allegedly beaten up and burnt by 32-year-old Urvashi Dhanorkar, in whose house she was working as a domestic help. Dhanorkar, a resident of the plush Royal Classic Complex in Jogeshwari was arrested by the Amboli police early on Saturday.
According to the police, an advocate from the same complex spotted the minor sobbing in the garden and got suspicious. “He then informed other women in the complex and questioned the girl. After learning that she was being tortured by her employer, they brought her to the police,” said senior police inspector Kailash Ghamande of the Amboli police station.
The neighbours were shocked by Dhanorkar’s behaviour as she herself has two children aged six and four. Her children are child artists who have acted in several TV serials. Her husband Avinash is a mechanical engineer with Air India.
Police say the Dhanorkars brought the girl to Mumbai from Amravati in June. They had promised her farmer parents that they would educate the girl and help her get adopted. Instead, Dhanorkar, a housewife, forced her to do household chores.
In her statement, Dhanorkar said the girl had a habit of stealing sweets and food from the kitchen and eating them up. “She was also careless with the crockery and household furniture,” she told the police.
“The girl looked anaemic. We could easily make out that she was not being given proper food. She obviously was left with no choice but to steal food,” said one of the women who accompanied the minor to the police station.
Police said that the neighbours had heard the girl crying loudly on several occasions. Jadhav had deep bruises on her face, suggesting that she had been punched. She also had burn marks on her hand. “She punched me on my face. She also burnt me with a hot spoon,” Jadhav told the police.
Jadhav was sent for medical examination and has been kept in a children’s home. “We have informed the girl’s family and her parents are on their way to Mumbai,” added Ghamande.
Dhanorkar was arrested under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means or weapons) of the IPC and Section 23 (cruelty to juvenile or child) and 26 (exploitation of juvenile or child employee) of the Juvenile Justice Act. She was produced before the Bandra metropolitan magistrate and released on a surety of Rs10,000.
