Sambhavna Seth, Avinash Dwivedi rescue house help’s sister held hostage & threatened with murder

Mumbai, July 31 (IANS): Television actress and content creator Sambhavna Seth, along with her husband Avinash Dwivedi, on Thursday night, shared details of an alleged rescue operation involving their house help’s sister, claiming the woman was held captive, threatened with death and forced to work at a residence in Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar.

In a video posted by the couple on their social media account, Sambhavna and Avinash said they decided to speak publicly about the incident to spread awareness.

“Hello friends… a very big incident has happened with us and it is important for us to talk to you about that incident because we want to make a lot of people aware about it. It can happen in anyone’s life or it can happen in your neighbourhood, for which it is important for you to be aware,” Avinash said.

He revealed that the incident came to light after their house help, Gudiya, suddenly broke down.

“Two days ago, Gudiya suddenly started crying… Gudiya is our house help. She lives in our house 24×7. When Gudiya started crying, we couldn’t understand what exactly happened,” he shared.

According to Avinash, Gudiya informed them that her elder sister, who had been working at a house in Kharghar through a domestic help agency, was allegedly being held against her will.

Explaining the agency’s working model, he said the woman had initially agreed to work at the residence after being told she would be looking after “13 cats and 5 dogs.”

“They had sweet-talked her initially… After 2-3 days, they started increasing her work. She had to cook, clean the house and do several other chores. She had a stomach problem post her C-section and could not do heavy work,” he added.

When the woman reportedly requested to leave, the employers allegedly refused, claiming they had already paid the agency.

Avinash claimed the agency later informed them that no payment had actually been received.

Sambhavna then recalled receiving a desperate phone call from the woman.

“She cried and asked me to save her… She told me she had vomited four times since morning, she hadn’t been given food and hadn’t eaten anything for two days,” the actress said.

The couple alleged that when agency representatives attempted to reach the flat, they were stopped by the society’s security guards.

Sambhavna then directly contacted the woman at the residence.

“I called this lady… She asked me who I was. When she recognised me, she said she was a big fan of mine. Her tone completely changed,” Sambhavna claimed.

She said she assured the woman that any payment dispute would be resolved but requested that the domestic worker be released immediately.

“Any help… I am just one call away, don’t worry. We won’t let you suffer any loss. If your payment doesn’t come, I’ll pay you. Ma’am, let her go. Don’t worry, we are here,” Sambhavna recalled telling her during the call.

According to the couple, the house help continued pleading for help, saying she feared for her life.

“She was just saying, ‘Madam, save me somehow. I’m being threatened to kill here.’ They told her, ‘You try to leave, we will cut you into pieces and throw you away. No one will know,'” Sambhavna alleged.

She further claimed that the employers had locked the main door for many days, confiscated the woman’s Aadhaar card and hidden her clothes so she could not escape.

“The biggest crime, they snatched her ID card, hid her clothes and told her, ‘Now go and show us how you leave,'” she said.

The couple said members of the placement agency, assisted by an NGO worker living in the same society, eventually managed to enter the building and rescue the woman.

“I would like to thank that lady… Maybe she is from some NGO. She went straight to the 30th floor, entered the house and somehow helped the girl escape,” Sambhavna said.

She alleged that during the escape, the woman’s husband slapped the domestic worker and she sustained injuries while running down the staircase.

“She was badly injured. She kept saying, ‘Sister, save me. They will kill me,'” Sambhavna recalled.

Sambhavna recalled overhearing the lady threatening the domestic helper of murder and cutting her into pieces and throwing them away. Sambhavna added that had help not received on time, the domestic helper would have been killed.

The actress also criticised the initial response from the Kharghar police, claiming help was not provided despite repeated requests.

“The police did not help. If they had helped at that time, the issue wouldn’t have escalated so much. Her life could have been lost,” she alleged.

The couple later approached Bangur Nagar Police Station in Mumbai.

“Thank You to the officers and team at the Bangur Nagar Police Station. The senior officers apologised to us for what had happened earlier. An officer heard us till 8 a.m. an FIR had been registered. Statements were recorded and all the evidence was collected,” Avinash said.

The rescued woman’s sister, Gudiya, also appeared in the video and thanked the couple for standing by her family.

“If bhaiya avd didi had not been with me, my sister would not have been in this world today. I request that strict action be taken against whoever did this to my sister,” she said.

Concluding the video, Sambhavna urged people not to ignore signs of abuse around them.

“Our sole purpose of making this video is to make people aware. In every society there may be a person or a family troubling others. If anything wrong is happening around you, raise your voice. Even knocking on someone’s door once can stop an incident,” she said.

She added, “This is not about rich or poor. This is about right and wrong. Humanity says that we should help each other.”

Sambhavna and Avinash also revealed that they have a lot of proofs against the alleged couple and said that if the couple does not discontinue with their criminal activities and mindset, they will disclose their identities on social media.

–IANS

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