The police in Maharashtra`s Palghar district have registered a case against a woman for allegedly forcing a ten-year-old tribal girl into bonded domestic labour, an official said on Thursday, reported news agency PTI.

The girl, a resident of Wada taluka, belongs to the tribal Katkari community. She was in the care of her grandparents after her father`s death, as her mother had abandoned her, reported PTI.

In her complaint to the police on Wednesday, the girl`s paternal grandmother said that a woman from Bhayander took the minor with her during last year`s Ganesh festival.

“The woman forced my granddaughter to wash clothes and dishes, wipe floors, and dry and collect fish. She also abused and beat her,” the grandmother said in her police complaint, reported PTI.

The abuse allegedly continued even after the girl returned home in June 2025. The woman allegedly sent an advance of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 “to take her back to work”.

The woman on Wednesday allegedly tried to take the child to work at her place. When her grandmother objected, she allegedly threatened to file a police complaint over the money she had already paid, reported PTI.

The woman has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections concerning unlawful compulsory labour, voluntarily causing hurt, and criminal intimidation, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the official added.

Man held for `molesting` 8-year-old girl on her birthday in Thane district

In another case, a 37-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly molesting an eight-year-old girl in Maharashtra`s Thane district, police said on Thursday, reported PTI.

The alleged incident took place in the Bhiwandi area on October 15, which was the child`s birthday.

Citing the FIR, an official said the girl was playing outside her house when accused Dineshkumar Sharma told her he would buy her a birthday gift and asked her to accompany him. The child got scared and ran into her house, reported PTI.

Sharma allegedly later accosted the minor when she was playing with her friends.

“The accused touched her inappropriately. When she raised an alarm, Sharma warned her of dire consequences if she talked about the incident with anyone,” said the official, citing the FIR, reported PTI.

The girl`s father approached the Bhiwandi police on Wednesday (October 22), prompting the cops to arrest Sharma under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The police did not explain why the girl`s father approached them late.

(With inputs from PTI)

Source