Minor domestic help’s ‘suicide’: Bhadohi MLA’s son arrested for abetment

Samajwadi Party’s Bhadohi MLA Zahid Beg’s son Zaim Beg was on Wednesday arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 17-year-old girl. The MLA and his wife were still out of police’s reach when this report was filed.

The minor’s body was found in the house of the MLA in Malikana town under Bhadohi police station limits on September 9.

Police said the girl was employed as a domestic help in the MLA’s house and had been living there for several years.

The girl was found hanging in a room on the top floor of the house. The post-mortem report conducted by a panel of doctors concluded that the cause of death was hanging.

Superintendent of police Meenakshi Katyayan confirmed Zaim’s arrest and said police had evidence against him.

The police said that their investigation revealed that the Zahid Beg and his wife Seema Beg made the 17-year-old girl work against her will. The girl, fed up with her circumstances, allegedly committed suicide on September 8 night, they added

A police case was already registered against the MLA and his wife under Section 108 of the BNS and further legal proceedings were underway.

During the course of their investigation, it came to light that another minor girl, aged 15, had been working as a domestic help at the MLA’s residence for the last two years.

On the instructions of district magistrate Vishal Singh, a joint team of police and district administration officials rescued her on September 10, added police.

She was presented before the Child Welfare Committee in Bhadohi and sent to Government Children’s Home (Girls) in Prayagraj.

According to police, the minor girl freed from the house said the 17-year-old girl had told her days before her death that she wanted to run away because she was bored of the household work and fed up with the circumstances.

Later, the involvement of Zaim in her death came to light, police said and added Zaim was arrested from near Makdumpur on Jaunpur-Bhadohi road.