Torture on child domestic help is reported from different parts of the country. Recently another such case occurred in Lahore. A girl servant was tortured by her employers inside their house. When a neighbour heard her cry for help, he informed the police. The gate of the house was closed, so the police entered the house through a ladder. The police team found the girl alone inside the house, as probably the house owners had left after hearing knocks at the gate. Torture marks have been found on the girl’s body. The report of her medical examination will reveal the extent and seriousness of the injuries. The police have registered an FIR against the couple suspected to have inflicted torture on their domestic help.
The girl has been given in custody of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau. The maid says she had been working at the house for around a year and a half, and that her employers subjected her to severe torture. Her father is in prison. He had taken a loan of Rs35,000 from her employers and in return for the loan she had to work. She claims that her employers forced her father to sign a paper and threatened him that if he took away his daughter, he and his family would have to face serious consequences. The girl’s circumstances indicate that she was working as a bonded labourer, so the employers reportedly treated her harshly. Her younger sister too works in the same house.
Violence on child maids is rampant. Several minor domestic help have died as a result of torture and rape. In Faisalabad, a girl maid was brutally tortured for reportedly breaking a pot. In 2018, a domestic help named Uzma was killed by her female employer. The increasing incidents of inflicting torture on minor domestic maids make it imperative to award deterrent punishment to the offenders. A law should be enacted for the purpose.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2021.
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