But her hope of living with uncle´s family and fulfilling her dreams shattered after her uncle sent her to work as a domestic help in Kiran Singh´s home at Dhapasi. [break]
Bhattarai, an orphan, could not go against her uncle´s decision. “We agreed to send her to Singh´s home thinking that she would have a bright future to look forward to,” her aunt Bhagwati said.
Bhagwati and her husband work as construction laborers. “We often do not find work and the little that we manage to earn hardly suffice to bring up our two kids. But when Singh assured that he would send our niece to school we agreed to send her to his house.
Aakarti was admitted in class two in local Panchya Kanya Lower Secondary School, at Faimalchuli, Dhapasi. “I did the dishes, wash clothes and cook in the morning and study in the evening,” she said.
Everything was hunky-dory for Aakriti until Singh´s wife left for America, where their two sons are studying, in October. “Last Saturday, he raped me. I cried out for help but no one heard me.”
“The next day in school when I cried in classroom, a teacher asked me about my problem,” she said. The teachers informed about the incident to CIWIS, an NGO working for the welfare of domestic workers. She now stays in the CIWIS hostel.
CIWIS on Wednesday lodged a complaint against Singh on Thursday at Metropolitan Police Range Maharagunj. However, the police released him within an hour.
“We have no right to detain the accused without any evidence,” DSP Jagadish Pokhrel said.
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