Child maid's mother too received money

Child maid's mother too received money
PANAJI: The mother of the 10-year-old girl, recovering at Goa medical college and hospital from torture wounds allegedly inflicted her employers,has admitted to the police that she accepted money from the accused to send her minor child to work as a domestic maid at their home.

Police sources revealed that in her statement, the mother said she had taken Rs 1,500 from Porvorim based civil engineer Audumber (Shubham) Pednekar to allow her daughter to work in his house. However, the minor in her statement to the police had revealed that while her mother was paid Rs 2,000, her grandmother received Rs 800 and another person from Panaji, where she worked for few days, was the recipient of Rs 4,000 all paid by Shubham.

Though police made efforts to interrogate the mother again, they say they found her in an inebriated state most times. "We will thoroughly interrogate the mother again," said police sources.

In her statement, the mother told the police that she lived in Gadak, Karnataka and had on one occasion interacted with her daughter in the Pednekar household during the course of her daughter's employment.

Speaking to people she has befriended in the hospital the girl alleged that her mother, an alcoholic, used to regularly beat her up. "She said that tired of her mother's beatings, her elder sister had run away from home," sources said.

"We have told her that her mother is in Goa, but she has not even once asked to meet her mother, cutting her completely out of her life. She repeatedly tells us that her mother and grandparents are the cause of her misery as they took money and put her as domestic work," added Audrey Pinto, director of SCAN, an NGO, who has been with the girl since the day she was rescued.

Though it's been almost five days since the mother has returned to Goa, she has not made any effort to meet her daughter.

Hospital sources said that when the minor's grandfather met her in the hospital after consenting to a medical examination by a panel of doctors, the girl accused him of ruining her life.

"When the grandfather suggested that once she is cured, they would send her back to Gadak, she got upset and accused them of being responsible for her condition. She said that she doesn't want to go with them," said sources.

Meanwhile, the ossification test to determine the minor's age will be conducted at GMC on Monday. Police had requested an ossification test on Saturday, as the minor doesn't possess a birth certificate or any other certificate to affirm her date of birth.

3 August 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition