Case of another tortured minor maid surfaces in Islamabad | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Case of another tortured minor maid surfaces in Islamabad

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: A woman and her son were arrested on the charge of torturing a minor girl working at their house as a maid, police said on Saturday.

After the arrest made by the Golra police, both the accused were produced in the court of a magistrate for seeking their remand for an investigation, said Assistant Sub-Inspector Khalid Javaid Awan.

However, the judge released them on bail after they submitted security bonds worth Rs50,000 each.

The police said a family living at Sector E-11/3 informed them that the 11-year-old girl came to their house and complained against her employers for torturing her.

In response, the police reached the house and took the girl into their custody.

The girl introduced herself as Saima Saleem, a native of the district of Rahim Yar Khan.

Saima said about four years ago a woman, identifi ed as Bushra, took her to her brother’s house in Kharian on the will of her parents.

In Ramazan last year, Bushra brought Saima to her sister’s house in Islamabad’s Sector E-11/3, where she worked as a maid since then.

The girl alleged that her employer and her children, a son and a daughter, used to torture her.

On Friday, she along with other minor maid, an Afghan national, was again tortured by their employer, the police quoted the girl as saying.

“They used to pour hot water on my body besides touching me with a hot knife.” Saima said she succeeded to escape from the house and reached another house in the neighbourhood.

The police said they registered a case against the employers of the girl and arrested them.

The girl was shifted to the crisis centre, adding her parents were being approached for further legal action.

Child not brought to Pims for medico legal The child maid was not brought to Pims for medico-legal on Saturday.

However, Pims medico-legal officer Dr Farrukh Kamal said the girl was brought to the emergency department of the hospital on Friday night, and so he was considering making a report on the basis of the observations of the casualty medical officer (CMO).

He said according to initial reports, a house key was lost and the residents of the house physically assaulted the child and cut off her hair as a punishment.

He said it had been decided that the girl would be brought to the hospital for a medico- legal report on Saturday morning.

At 11am, the police told Pims the victim was being brought in for the report but then claimed she would be produced in the court because the suspects had filed for bail.

However, the child was not brought to the hospital for a medical report by Saturday evening.

Dr Kamal told Dawn the child was brought to Pims for medical treatment on Friday night.

“According to the CMO’s observations, there were multiple bruises on the girl’s body – some of them were new and others were old.

There were also old and new burn marks on the body,” he said.

“There were scratch marks on the neck, and red marks on the hands and legs as she was beaten.

Moreover, the girl’s hair was also cut.” He said the police came to the hospital in the evening and asked for the medico-legal report.

“I asked them where the girl was, but the police said since the girl could not be allowed to stay in the house where she was beaten, she was shifted to the crisis centre in H-8.

So I have two options: one is to go to the crisis centre, and the other is to make the report on the basis of the CMO’s observations.

As the CMO’s observations are clear, I will stick to them to make the report,” he said.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of the woman and her son accused of torturing the child said his clients and neighbours had bad relations, which was why they used the maid and called the police.

He said the child’s hair was not fully removed so that was not a cognisable offence.

Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said the child was discharged after she was treated on Friday because she did not have any serious injuries.

“However, she was very upset by whatever happened to her.

We were expecting the girl would be brought back on Saturday morning but the police did not bother to bring her,” he said.

Earlier this year, a 10-year-old domestic employee, Tayyaba, was allegedly abused by her employers, including a serving judge.

The police initially prepared a report stating she had fallen down the stairs and had been accidentally burnt.

After the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court and the chief justice of Pakistan took notice, the child was to be brought to a medical board on Jan 6 but disappeared.

She was recovered from an Islamabad suburb on Jan 8 and the medical examination was carried out.

The case is still under trial.

Dawn