‘No Phone, Little Food, Six Years in Confinement’: Domestic Worker Alleges Abuse in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: A 23-year-old woman from Manipur has accused a couple living inside the IIM Bangalore campus of subjecting her to years of severe abuse, confinement, and physical assault while she worked as a domestic helper at their residence.

According to the complaint filed with police, the woman alleged that she was illegally confined inside the house for nearly six years without proper access to food or a mobile phone. The accused have been identified as Amar and Anshu, a couple residing within the campus premises in Bengaluru.

The survivor stated that the abuse intensified from June 2021 onward, with repeated incidents of physical violence and mistreatment. She alleged that she was often denied food, even during periods of illness, and that her employers routinely confiscated her phone and assaulted her whenever she attempted to communicate with outsiders.

The situation reportedly worsened on April 15, when the couple allegedly assaulted her in the early hours of the morning, dragging her by the hair and physically attacking her. Following the incident, she claimed she was kept under strict surveillance and prevented from stepping outside the house. Fear and isolation, she said, stopped her from approaching the authorities earlier.

The woman finally managed to escape on May 4 after allegedly being denied food once again. She sought help from neighbours, who reportedly provided her with food and allowed her to contact relatives using a phone. She later informed her aunt and members of the Kuki Students' Organisation in Bengaluru about the abuse.

Following intervention by the organisation, a formal police complaint was filed. Police have since registered an FIR against the couple and launched an investigation into the allegations.