The Mahagun Moderne society in Noida Sector 78 on 13 July banned domestic help from Bangladesh from working in the society, reported Hindustan Times.
Almost every house in Mahagun has Bangladeshi help. Residents said that so far they used to get maids through security guards of the society who knew them. However, now they are planning to reach out to an agency to employ new helps, reportedly.
The society was attacked by a mob on 12 July. The crowd pelted stones and vandalised property using steel rods after forcing their way into the gated apartment complex.
Conflicting Reports About the Violence
There are conflicting reports about what sparked the violence. According to some reports, violence broke out after a woman, Zora Bibi, who was employed as a domestic worker at a house in the society, was handed over to police after she was allegedly caught stealing. However, other sources suggested that the mob became violent over reports of Zora being held captive in a house.
A group of people, said to be from her village, gathered at Sector 78 before proceeding to force entry into the complex. The mob also blocked the main Dadri-Surajpur-Chhalera (DSC) road at Barola and halted traffic going towards Noida Phase 2 Industrial Area, reportedly.
Police said Zora was allegedly beaten up by a resident of the society, while another resident said that the mob was angered because she was handed over to police, Hindustan Times reported.
Arun Kumar, Superintendent of Police (city), was quoted as saying:
Most of the protesters are domestic helps, who are angry that a maid has been allegedly beaten up. We are trying to contain the protest
Kumar said that the villagers were “enraged” because the help had been handed over to police.
AK Singh, the Noida SP said:
They say the maid stole money and they let her go when she confessed. Others say she was held captive till morning. Investigation is on
Commenting on the issue, Vibhuti Chaudhary, a resident of Mahagun said on Wednesday:
We want police and administration to intervene into the matter. In future, this will become a culture in Noida and residents will have no say. From rape to assault, every allegation was levelled against the residents of our housing society. Every person on the side of the maid has their own version. This can turn dangerous.
Abdul Sattar, Zora’s husband, on the other hand, said that they were worried because Zora had been missing and they had only gone to inquire after her. He added that they were assaulted by the security guards first, after which they resorted to stone-pelting in self-defence.
When we asked the security guards of the society, they used batons on us. Everyone was injured and we resorted to stone-pelting in self defence. We were threatened by them that they would kill us. We know the chaos would make the women jobless, but oppression cannot be tolerated by anyone in the society
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