Live-in domestic help seems to be a common practice amongst the better-to-do Indians. Quite a few of these workers are minors too. A shelter and two square meals with a much-too-meagre salary thrown in is all it takes to lure them in. If you are in a position of power and can promise a job or a visa to better pastures, the attraction becomes fatal. The other party would trade in all its rights for this offer. The practice is widespread and hence any questions on its legality are always brushed aside. But in case a legal dispute did arise on whose side will you be?
I am surprised to find Mayawati siding with Devyani simply because she is a Dalit by birth. I do not know whether Sangeeta is a Dalit or not. But I do feel that Mayawati's sympathies should have been with Sangeeta, a Dalit in the real sense of the word.
I agree that USA has been callous and totally mindless of Indian sensibilities in the way it handled Devyani. But has it also not done a service to us by drawing attention to the plight of Sangeetas of our country? And does our unusually stern reaction stem from our discomfort in facing this issue squarely?
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