AHMEDABAD: The paperwork of Bindu Sharma was all in order and raised no red flags about her, but the day she landed in Ahmedabad, Ranjit Barva had his suspicions about her and even instructed his society’s guards not to allow Bindu to go out with his 11-month-old daughter.
“After she arrived, she was constantly on the phone making video calls and talking and when I asked her why she was on the phone frequently. She told me she was talking to her daughters and the younger had some medical issues. Bindu, who came to work in May, even took Rs 5,000 apart from her salary saying she needed it for her daughter’s treatment. I never asked her to return the money,” said Barva.
"This attempted abduction should be an eye-opener for Amdavadis. Getting one’s domestic help registered at the local police station should be mandated by all residential societies. Police should ensure that once a citizen makes an application online or in-person, they cross-check the domestic worker’s credentials. Resident welfare associations may contact NGOs or organisations locally to help residents connect with individuals seeking work as domestic help whose credentials are verified, instead of going to unverified websites.-TimesView"
“However, we had doubts about Bindu and had asked her not to take the baby out of the house. We had also instructed our society security guards not to allow Bindu to leave the society with the baby,” he said,
Barva said when he got the call from West Bengal police, his fear turned to be legitimate but he was lucky to find Bindu and his daughter still at his house.
Barva said he contacted a home services agency based in Airoli, Navi Mumbai, through the internet and was put in touch with Bindu. “To convince me about their services, the agency gave me several references in Mumbai and other places and when I spoke to these clients of the agency, I got good reviews. Finally, we made a contract online after interviewing Bindu. It was agreed that we would pay her Rs 18,500 a month.”
The agency, in the contract, stated that no police verification was done. “Bindu was hired and given a flight ticket to come to the city. I was given her Aadhaar card and several other documents to prove her identity. I have almost 100 pages of her documents,” he said.
