Inhumane treatment: Allegations of harassment against minister’s brother

Raja Ashraf’s brother Changez accused the maid of theft and beat her up.

ISLAMABAD:

Ammera Khan thought her life had changed enough when, following the 2010 floods, she moved to Islamabad leaving behind her life as a school student in Larkana district.

But more was in store for her.

Ammera’s father Abdur Rahim and his four children started working as domestic servants at the house of Raja Changez Ashraf, older brother of the water and power minister Raja Parvez Ashraf, in sector G-9/3 in Islamabad.

On Tuesday night, Changez allegedly beat Ammera accusing her of stealing Rs820,000 from the house.

“Changez had asked me to sign a document that would allow him to keep my daughter in his house forever,” Rahim told The Express Tribune. “When my wife refused, they accused our daughter of theft and beat her up. My mother, wife and two sons are still in his custody,” he said.

Rahim then went to the Margalla Police Station to lodge a FIR but the police refused to register a case because they are influential people.

SHO Irshad Ali said that he cannot lodge a case without first hearing Raja’s family’s point of view. He claimed that he has called both parties to the police station. “Only after I listen to them will I be able to do something,” he said.

Meanwhile, sources said the police was under pressure from Raja Pervez Ashraf, who had asked them to cover up the issue.

When contacted, Changez refused to comment on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2011.