Verification of house help should be non-negotiable

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The Mumbai police have repeatedly warned citizens to get police verification of their domestic help done, but it does not happen most of the time. Recent crimes in Khar and Versova homes have showed the perils of ignoring this sage advice.

A report in this paper stated that the house helps often stayed at their employer's homes. As they lived there, they were privy to the employer's habits and where they keep their valuables.

A Khar domestic help won the trust of his employer but fled with cash and jewellery when the latter went out of town on a trip. The employer did not even have a picture of the man, but eventually, he was caught.

Another house help whose verification was not done, duped a senior citizen by learning his password and withdrawing money from his employer's account. He was caught, but the important thing here is that the verification process was skipped.

Many people simply do not bother to conduct verification. Other employers are lulled into a state of complacency by house helps who seem honest or have been recommended by people close to them. They may very well be honest, but you may have the bad eggs who fool you into thinking you can trust them.

Finally, there are employers who are embarrassed to do a police verification of their staff. In this case, it is simply better to be upfront, telling your help that you trust them, but are simply complying with the law, and the law says that verification is needed. In fact, if they are totally above board there should not be an iota of hesitation about being verified.

As citizens, it is our duty to meet the cops halfway or at least part of the way, so that detection and crime solving become smoother. In the end, verification does not just help the police but also benefits the employer.