Her wounds will never heal

BHUBANESWAR: For Sangeeta, it is a scar she will carry all her life. Even as the Orissa Government talks of pro-child programmes, this 10-year-old is living a life of hell for the last two years in the City. Even the person who brought her such misery is walking free. Allegedly sold by her parents, Sangeeta was made to work as a domestic help and subjected to inhuman torture for minor lapses. Even acid was hurled on her face and the disfigured girl was made to beg.It happened two years back at Munda Sahi near Mancheswar Railway station. Burdened with poverty, the 10-year-old, daughter of Bobby Pradhan and Laxmi, was sold off by her parents to one Kalia of Munda Sahi in 2009. Kalia and his wife employed the girl as a domestic help for Rs. 100 a month. One day when Sangeeta did not clean the utensils properly, Kalia threw acid from a battery on her. The face and the lower parts of Sangeeta suffered severe burn injuries. No police case was, however, filed. Though the accused provided her some medical care at the Capital Hospital here, Sangeeta’s woes were far from over. Kalia allegedly forced her to beg in front of the Capital Hospital when she partially recovered. “He would beat me often and also snatched away all the alms that I collected at the end of the day,” said Sangeeta.Last year, a Good Samaritan noticed Sangeeta begging in front of the hospital and inquired about her plight. When she narrated her ordeal, he managed to take her to Khurda where her uncle Pradeep Pradhan and maternal grandmother Chandrakala Pradhan resided.  Both Pradeep and Chandrakala came to Bhubaneswar to trace Kalia and his family but they had fled. “He had managed to flee after we arrived at Munda Sahi and there is nobody in the area who knows his whereabouts,” said Pradeep, a plumber by profession.  After Sangeeta’s plight was witnessed by some scribes on Tuesday morning, they admitted her to the SUM Hospital. Plastic Surgeon J K Das said the girl suffered from 80 per cent burn injuries. “She is suffering from post burn deformity and this will take time to heal,” he said.Though her treatment would be carried out free of cost by the hospital, Pradeep said he did not have any funds to meet the daily food expenses of Sangeeta.