Woman Caught On Video Dragging, Assaulting Maid; Would Allegedly Beat Her 'Badly'

Police in India booked a woman Tuesday for allegedly assaulting and keeping her maid hostage inside her house.

The woman, a resident of Cleo County society in Sector-121, Noida, was identified as Shaifali Koul, The Times of India reported.

CCTV footage showed the woman dragging and pulling the maid out of an elevator. The maid can be seen trying to run away from the woman several times.

Padam Singh, the maid's father, filed a complaint against Shaifali.

According to the complaint, Anita, the 20-year-old domestic helper, had been working at Shaifali's house for six months,

Singh claimed that his daughter worked as a house help at the woman's house with an agreement until Oct. 31. After the contract expired, Anita wanted to leave the house and stop working there, but Shaifali allegedly did not allow her to go.

"She snatched her phone and forcefully got all the household work done. When she refused to work and asked to go home, the woman used to beat her," Singh alleged.

The maid's father alleged that Shaifali used to beat his daughter "badly." Anita allegedly acquired several injury marks on her body due to the assault, her father added.

"Around 4 a.m. on Monday, my daughter tried to flee from the house from the balcony after using dupattas. The accused woman used to live on the fourth floor of the building and my daughter tied two of her dupattas and used them to get off the balcony. Once she reached the ground floor, she asked the security guard of the tower to make a call to the police or us," the father claimed in the complaint.

Singh managed to speak with his daughter.

"I asked the security guard to take care of her as we were reaching there. But the woman came and took my daughter into her house forcefully," Singh alleged. "We called the police once we reached the society and after that police intervened in the matter. Police rescued my daughter from the woman. We have made a complaint against her."

Vijay Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Phase-3 police station, told The Times of India that based on a complaint, a first information report (FIR) was registered against the woman under sections 344 (wrongful confinement for 10 or more days), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of India Penal Code (IPC).

The victim was sent for a medical examination. Kumar said that appropriate actions would be taken up concerning the matter.

However, Shaifali claimed that Anita tried to flee after stealing from her.

"Anita was working in my house since April, this year. In June, her family had taken a Rs 50,000 ($603) loan from me. When I asked them I will cut it from Anita's salary, they started the drama," Shaifali alleged.

"On Sunday night, Anita had mixed the sleeping pills in my food. After having my dinner, I fell asleep very soon, which is not my habit. Anita had stolen all the jewelry and she was trying to flee from the balcony with the help of dupattas. But she fell and received injuries. The security guard caught her and handed her over to me," she claimed.

Shaifali shared on Twitter videos allegedly showing her maid answering some questions. In one of the videos, the maid said that her relatives routinely visit her and that there are no restrictions imposed on her to meet them. Then, in another video, the maid acknowledged that her relatives misbehaved with Shaifali.

Shaifali shared the video after the CCTV footage from Noida's upscale Cleo County society went viral on the internet.

"Before Anita's agreement was over, I had applied for new domestic help but the agency informed me that they will provide me a domestic help after Dec. 25 only. That's why I made an application with Noida's women's cell that Anita will work in my house till December end due to my health issues. Even Anita also agreed to it," she claimed.