On April 6, 2010, Amrit, a domestic help at Pawan Drolia’s household took away cash and jewellery after killing another domestic help of the same household Annapurna Sharma. Amrit led a gang on that day to make his attempt a success. 

 Not long ago, on September 24, 2005, elderly couple Tarachand Banka and his wife Sarda Banka were killed brutally by their newly appointed domestic help Kebol Roy. Kebol Roy decamped with cash and jewellery from the Banka family’s Mansarovar apartment on Camac Street.

 Neither Drolia nor Banka did bother to register the details of their domestic helps with local police station. The price they paid was their own lives. They are not the only ones. In between Banka and Drolia, and even before Banka, there have been a plenty of cases of robbery and murder by domestic helps. Yet citizens fail to learn lessons. 

 Our own study shows that increasingly, hardened criminals are sneaking into wealthy households in the guise of domestic helps. It has always been easy for criminals to make a householder a soft target. It is dangerous to live with a criminal. So even at the time of registration itself, a criminal can be identified. A crime can be prevented before it is to happen. 

 Under these circumstances, the registration of domestic helps is a kind of insurance that helps a householder live life fearlessly. Simply because the domestic help is registered with the police station, the help will think twice before committing any crime. At the same time, we can build up a preventive mechanism.

 Most of the time, a householder desperate to get a domestic help, tend to gloss over the basic criteria required before recruiting a domestic help. Just on the basis of one recommendation, a domestic help is engaged. Even the credentials of the person who recommends remain questionable. We all know engaging an efficient domestic help is the best way to pacify the frayed nerves of the lady of the house. 

 There is a misconception that registration of servants would antagonize the person you are engaging at your household, creating an atmosphere of distrust at the very beginning. But it is not so. Registration of domestic help does not mean that the domestic help is brought under scanner of the police. Make the person you are engaging understand that. It is simply a rule you are complying. Nothing more, nothing less.

 A rule is a rule when it is complied with. So if one begins, other will follow. Remember, it is all because of the safety of you and your loved ones. Non registration of domestic help is matter of breaching your personal safety and security.

 Let us be clear that we are casting no aspersion on the domestic-help community. They render a huge service to a lot of people. I personally know many cases, where the domestic help is like the walking stick of a blind man, or more than that to a family. I know cases, where the domestic help is much more than the members of the family. I know a case where a domestic help is the only support to a person forlorn by his relatives. 

 We arrested Kebol Roy, the domestic help, who killed elderly Banka couple. We will arrest Amrit who killed Annapurna, another domestic help of Drolia household. But the damage is done. We cannot bring back Banka couple or Annapurna. So come forward and register your domestic help with your respective police station. We care for you.