Drug addict accused of selling three daughters d

Police return maid to ‘employer’ over father’s affidavit

LAHORE:

A drug addict has been accused of selling his three daughters to get money for narcotics.

A relative alleged that two of the girls had been handed over to a family that ran brothels, while a minor was sent to serve as a housemaid.

The maid’s attempt to get refuge with her uncle, Shahid Butt, after escaping from her employer Babar’s home due to torture was thwarted by police on a complaint filed by him.

Babar filed an application at Millat Park police station for registering an abduction case but the officials came to know that the girl was at the home of her uncle. The police raided her uncle’s home and took her to the police station late on Tuesday night.

Later, the matter was taken to DSP Waheed Ishaq where Babar presented a stamp paper wherein the girl’s father Faheem Butt had given her custody to his family.

The stamp paper valuing Rs50, signed by Faheem and witnesses, stated, “I have no right on my daughter; all responsibilities to after her health, education and her marriage are on the shoulders of Babar’s family.”

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The girl’s uncle Shahid requested her custody but the police handed her over to Babar’s family on the basis of the affidavit. Talking to The Express Tribune, Faheem denied his family members’ allegation that he had sold his daughters. However, he conceded that he was an addict.

When asked about his daughters allegedly working at a brothel, he said he had nothing to do with what they were doing.

Shahid, the uncle of the girls, said his whole family was aware of Faheem having sold his daughters.

Babar said he had not paid any amount and had just been given the responsibility of the girl. Replying to a question, he said he had not succeeded in admitting her to a school since August last year. An ASI, Waheed, said the police had done what they could in accordance with the law.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) secretary Shamim Malik questioned the legal status of the Rs50 stamp paper in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2020.