Servant poisons, robs family, cops make no headway

COST OF SERVICE: Saxenas never got their domestic help's credentials verified by the police.

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New Delhi: When 76-year-old H B Saxena lost his wife ten days back he was devastated. Saxena and his wife had been living by themselves in Defence Colony, a posh South Delhi neighbourhood for the past several years. But on Saturday night misfortune came calling again Saxena, his son Somesh and two servants were poisoned by a third servant Raju who fled with valuables worth lakhs.

"All the people were found unconscious in different rooms,” said victim's brother-in-law, S K Saxena.

The Delhi Police is investigating the case, but have not made much headway because the Saxenas never got their domestic help's credentials verified by the police.

"It becomes very difficult for the police to trace the servant if he isn't registered with any placement agency,” said DCP South Delhi, Anil Shukla.

According to police records in the last nine months three murders were committed by servants, and every month over 20 houses are robbed by servants mostly unverified placement agencies say its safer to recruit from them because they screen applicants in advance.

"We have records of all our people even their village addresses,” said N K Kundu of Bansi Domestic Service.

South Delhi alone has witnessed 145 thefts and two murders in the last one and a half years. This incident in Defence Colony will perhaps serve as a wake up call for employers to take Delhi police's domestic help verification programme seriously.

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