Minor domestic help tortured in Khurrianwala

Suspect burnt victim’s body with hot iron for not ironing clothes properly

An 11-year-old housemaid was tortured by a private schoolteacher with a hot iron for not ironing clothes properly on Canal Road in Khurrianwala on Thursday.

The Child Protection Bureau (CPB) team took the girl into their custody and carried out her medical examination and registered a case against the school teacher. Meanwhile, the school teacher has been granted bail by the court till June 17.

Police said Madiha, a private schoolteacher living in Eden Valley on Canal Road, hired an 11-year-old girl, a resident of Luckwala Sahiwal, as a housemaid at her house on a salary of Rs8,000 a month a year ago.

During this time, Erum continued to work in school as well. However, Madiha used to burn off the body of the housemaid with hot knives, bread tongs etc. for small mistakes.

Yesterday, she burnt her housemaid’s body with a hot iron for not ironing her clothes properly. Rubina Iqbal Cheema, an officer of the Child Protection Bureau, told The Express Tribune that she had received a report from Eden Valley that a private school teacher had tortured her housemaid.

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On June 10, after obtaining a search warrant from the Child Protection Court, they rescued the minor girl at 3.30 pm, who said in her statement that Madiha did not even allow her to visit her family and there was not a day when she did not torture her.

The victim was later admitted to the Civil Hospital. After receiving medical treatment, a team of Child Protection Bureau filed a case against the private school teacher at Madina Town Police Station under Section 328 (Exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years by parent or person having care of it), 337-V(Arsh for hair) and 344 (Wrongful confinement for ten or more days) of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Madina Town Police raided and arrested Madiha, who took bail through the court of Additional and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal, till June 17. On the other hand, the suspect claims that she did not torture the housemaid but she went to her house some time ago and from there she came with the injuries.

During the last six months, there were seven incidents of violence against a housemaid in Faisalabad, six of which took place within the limits of Madina Town police station where elite class people live and have girls who work as housemaids.

Earlier this year in February, a man along with his wife allegedly tortured and detained their domestic help, a minor boy, in their home in Dijkot. The couple beat the boy with an iron rod and plastic pipes for not doing the domestic work properly,