18-year-old maid ‘jumps’ to death in Sector 43

GURGAON: An 18-year-old housemaid, Baby Sultana, died after jumping off the ninth floor of Tarika Apartments in Sector 43 of Gurgaon early on Monday morning.
The Sushant Lok police have registered a case of abetment to suicide against Manjit Singh, the owner of Flat 503 of the condominium, and Ipsa, his wife, based on the statement by the girl’s father, Hasmuddin.
She jumped from the common balcony of the ninth floor (top most in the building) around 6.45am while the owners were apparently sleeping in their apartment. The car-washers on the ground floor heard her body land with a thud on the ground. One of them identified the body of the maid in a yellow salwar suit. Eyewitnesses say there wasn’t much blood around the body but her right elbow was broken and bleeding.
Eldest of five sisters, Baby never went to school and had been working as housemaid since the age of four. Her father Hasmuddin is a cycle rickshaw driver.
She visited her parents at their residence in Silokhra village, South City, from May 1 to 8 and gave them her entire salary. She returned to Tarika on May 9.
During her stay with her family, she is not reported to have complained to her parents or sisters about anything. In fact, she had reportedly said that she liked the family she was working for.
Sarina, her younger sister, said: “We are sure she didn’t commit suicide. She sometimes complained of being overworked but she wasn’t stressed. Something must have definitely gone wrong after May 9 which led her to jumping, if at all she jumped by herself.”
The couple in Flat 503 lived with their six-year old son and the maid. They were unavailable for comment.
The police have taken the statement of victim’s father. In his statement, Hasmuddin alleged that the couple for whom his daughter worked had tortured her and accused them of abetment to suicide. A senior police officer said that the postmortem would be conducted on Tuesday.
Praveen Kumar, estate manager of Tarika Apartments, said “The couple for whom the girl worked were saying the girl used to talk to herself ever since she returned from her home in Silokhra village.”
Police were surprised at her fall from the ninth floor as she was working for someone on the fifth floor. “It does look like a case of suicide because she works for someone who lives on the fifth floor; she had no reason to go sit on the ninth floor,” said DCP (Crime) Maheshwar Dayal. “Before her death, she was reportedly seen sitting on the parapet wall and guards had warned her. It is too early to say whether she jumped or fell, but we have not received any suicide note,” Dayal said.