Assam couple held in Nagaon domestic help abuse case

GUWAHATI | Sept 07, 2020:

Police have arrested a doctor and wife in connection with pouring hot water on their 12-year-old domestic help while he was asleep from Nagaon in Assam on Saturday night.

A doctor identified as Siddhi Prasad Deuri from Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh, and his wife Mitali Konwar, Principal of Moran College, have been on the run after the incident.

Deuri, in an inebriated state, had allegedly poured hot water on the boy when he was sleeping in their house in Dibrugarh, while Mitali Konwar, a witness to the incident, has been accused of not providing any medical treatment.

"The couple, wanted for causing burn injury to the underage domestic help in Dibrugarh, has been arrested from Nagaon," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) GP Singh said.

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The District Child Welfare Committee had rescued the boy on August 29 after receiving a video from an anonymous source, however, the boy is now in a child care centre.

The victim's statement has been recorded and a case registered against the couple under various sections of the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition Act and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

The police had gone to the couple's residence to interrogate them but found that Sidhi Prasad Deuri, a cancer patient, was being administered saline. They had asked the accused to report to the local police station at the earliest.

Following the incident, the couple, however, fled and the police launched a search operation to arrest them.