On 3rd November, Chennai Police arrested Mohammed Nishad and his wife Nasia for the murder of their 15-year-old maid. Reportedly, before killing the minor maid, she was subjected to severe torture including branding with cigarettes and a hot iron pan. The dead body of the maid was recovered from the bathroom of the couple’s house. While the couple involved in the murder of the minor is a Muslim, media houses including Times of India and Hindustan Times connected the murder of the minor maid to the Hindu festival Diwali.
Media gave a ‘Diwali’ twist to the murder
Though the accused in the case are Muslims, media houses including Times of India and Hindustan Times gave it a “Diwali” twist. The Times of India prominently used the word “Diwali” in its social media post about the incident, omitting the names of the accused. The post read, “A 15-year-old domestic help died on #Diwali after being brutally assaulted by her employers. The couple inflicted severe injuries, including cigarette burns, and locked her in a washroom to die.”
The names of the accused appear only in the second or third paragraphs after opening the report. [Archived link of the news report]
Similarly, Hindustan Times did not mention the names of the accused in the initial paragraphs of the report on murder of the maid but noted that the incident occurred on Diwali. In the HT report, a separate section was created where the names of the accused were mentioned. [Archived link of the news report]
Details of the incident
The incident took place in Mehta Nagar which comes under the Aminjikarai police station area in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. As per reports, Mohammed Nishad and his wife Nasia had employed a 15-year-old minor as a maid. She was brought to Nishad’s house by a brother-sister duo for domestic work. The girl was originally from Tanjavur. She was doing domestic work to support her widowed mother one and a half years ago.
Media reports suggest that 35-year-old Nishad and his 30-year-old wife had been torturing the minor girl for several days. She was often beaten by the husband-wife duo. She was also burnt multiple times with cigarettes and a hot iron pan. Marks on the victim’s neck indicated strangulation. Both were recovered by the police on 31st October from the bathroom of the couple’s flat.
Police said in a statement that she was brutally beaten on the day of her death. Following the brutal beating, she went to the bathroom where she succumbed to her injuries. Following her death, Nishad and his wife locked the house and fled to hide at a friend’s place. The police were informed about the death by the lawyer of the accused. The police rushed to the accused’s house and recovered the body.
The body was then sent to Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital for a postmortem examination. Once the report was received, the incidents of torture and death came to the fore. The police arrested the couple and detained four others for questioning including the brother-sister duo who arranged the victim’s employment and the couple where Nishad and his wife were hiding.
A case has been registered under various Sections of Bharatiya Nayay Sanhita (BNS) and POCSO Act.
