Kalpana after returning from Spain. Telegraph picture

Mumbai, March 4: Kalpana Salunke didn’t think twice when the Sindhi family asked if she was willing to go to Spain as a babysitter.

It would mean crossing the seas but the Rs 20,000 a month the Trilokanis were offering was too good to refuse. Plus, they had also promised to take care of all the education expenses of her only child.

That was sometime in December.

Last week, Kalpana returned to Pune, battered and bruised, and not a penny in her purse.

In a horrifying reminder of the case involving India-born Mahender Sabhnani and his wife Varsha — convicted last year by a US court for torturing their Indonesian maids — Kalpana was dragged down stairs by the hair and slapped, kicked and burnt with hot iron rods.

“She was physically and mentally abused. She was hired as a babysitter, but ended up working as a maid for three homes, including those of relatives of the Trilokanis,” said Kalpana’s lawyer and rights activist Aseem Sarode.

“When she was made to work from early morning to late evening, she resisted, as a result of which she was severely beaten up.”

Kalpana had boarded the flight to Spain in January, thinking Neeta Trilokani, who is also from Pune, would keep her promise.

Her trust died early.

“Her hands were burnt and the wounds are so deep they are yet to heal. She managed to file a complaint against her employers with Spanish police on February 23, a copy of which has been given to Pune police,” lawyer Sarode said.

The 42-year-old, now reunited with her family after a 23-hour journey from Spain via Doha, had approached the local Hindustani Club in Spain.

“The club gave me food and 20 euros to help me get out. But the Trilokanis took away my passport, work permit and belongings. They also took away the money and the food. After much pressure, they put me on a flight to India via Doha.

“I didn’t eat anything till I reached Doha because I had no money. It was only on the flight from Doha to Mumbai that I was given something to eat,” said Kalpana, who on Saturday approached Pune police to register a complaint against the Trilokanis.

“We will investigate the complaint before we formally lodge an FIR,” said an officer.

Kalpana’s complaint has come close on the heels of a similar case, though it didn’t involve NRIs. Last week, Mumbai police arrested small-time Bollywood actress Huma Khan for kidnapping and torturing her maid’s 12-year-old daughter for eight months.

Khan’s Pune-based rakhi brother Shamiuddin Shaikh was also arrested for raping the girl repeatedly.

The girl, who had bruises all over her body, said she was beaten, branded with a hot knife and jabbed with nails.

“This is a serious problem and the police and the administration need to take serious action against the offenders,” Sarode said.