Child help claims beating by ex-MNA’s wife

The girl says her employer regularly beat her with a steel rod over minor mistakes

LAHORE: The Child Welfare and Protection Bureau (CWPB) said on Thursday they had taken into custody a girl who complained that her employer, the wife of a former MNA, regularly beat her over petty issues.



A spokesperson for the bureau said that the girl was an orphan and had belonged to a village in Gujranwala suburbs. She said she had been working at the house of a former MNA living in Johar Town.

The girl told the CWPB the wife of the former MNA regularly beat her. She said she would beat her with a steel rod over minor mistakes. On Thursday, the girl fled the house and boarded a van.

One of the passengers, who noticed that she was crying, informed the CWPB about her, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said she was unable to identify the house in Johar Town. He said a case would be registered against her employers once they received a medico-legal report.

Earlier, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said special committees would be formed at district level for the elimination of child labour at brick kilns.

“Children working at kilns will be enrolled at schools and provided a stipend,” the chief minister said while chairing a meeting of a steering committee for the elimination of child labour at brick kilns.



The meeting decided that an ordinance be issued soon to make effective the legal framework for the elimination of child labour at brick kilns.

The chief minister said the DCOs and DPOs would monitor the performance of district committees that would meet weekly. The DCOs and DPOs would personally inspect brick kilns, he said.

Sharif directed the industries secretary to submit a report within a week on the registration of brick kilns.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2016.