Family of burnt maid ‘withdraws’ case

Police say the father withdrew an application filed by girl’s uncle

LAHORE: The father of a nine-year-old domestic worker, whose hands were allegedly burnt by her employer, has reportedly compromised with the accused and withdrawn his case, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The uncle of the girl had filed an application against the employer, but failed to get the case registered. Ultimately, the minor’s parents withdrew the application, thus absolving the accused of all charges.



Supreme Court Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday had taken suo motu notice of the incident and ordered the Punjab IGP to file a report within three days. |

Ghalib Hussain, the uncle of nine-year-old Abida, filed an application with Defence-B police station. He said Junaid burnt the hands of his niece for breaking a windowpane.

He sought action against him, but the police, instead of registering an FIR, kept delaying the matter, Ghalib told The Express Tribune. He said on the first day, the police refused to conduct a medico-legal examination and asked them to return on the next day.

He said they went again to the police station on the day 2, but the investigation officer claimed the doctor would not be available at that time. Again, the minor was asked to return on the following day and this time the examination was conducted.  The uncle said the tests proved she had suffered burn injuries.

Defence B SHO Muhammad Akram told The Express Tribune that the police, after preliminary investigation, understood that the burns were caused by either cooking oil or something related.

He said the accused was taken to the police station for interrogation, but his relatives got him released with the help of a court bailiff. He pointed out that the girl was also brought to the police station on the same day, but her medical examination could not be conducted due to the doctor being unavailable at 2pm. He said the examination was finally conducted on day 3 and it confirmed burn injuries.



Akram said that on the same day, Khalid Hussain, reached the police station and said Ghalib had filed an application due to a misunderstanding. He added Junaid did not cause burn injuries to his daughter. He quoted Khalid’s application as saying that the family did not want to pursue legal action on the earlier application. The policeman added that officials had no other option but to close the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2017.