Minor home worker killed, brother injured

Victims were tortured for ‘eating things from the refrigerator’

LAHORE:

Two underage domestic workers were brutally beaten in the defence area of Lahore on Tuesday, as a result of which 11-year-old Kamran succumbed to the injuries while his brother seven-year-old Rizwan was reported as seriously injured.

The two minors from Karachi had been working for a year in the house of a citizen named Nasrullah.

Police said both the children were tortured by the employer family and were transferred to a local hospital only after their conditions had deteriorated. The law enforcement authorities were subsequently contacted by the hospital staff, who had made the call upon noticing the severity of their conditions.

Nasrullah, his wife Shabana and son Mahmood have been detained by the police on charges of torture, while his other son Abul Hassan and daughter-in-law Hina managed to escape and are currently being pursued by the police.

The police has also confirmed that Kamran’s body has been sent for autopsy.

According to the statement given to the police by the accused, the minors were tortured for allegedly "eating things out of the fridge".

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Taking notice of the incident, the Child Protection Bureau chairperson Sara Ahmed has directed the concerned personnel to contact the two brothers’ family and requested strict legal action against the accused by the police.

Earlier in June, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) figures from numerous countries had indicated a rising trend in child labour in the post-pandemic period due to worsening economic conditions.

Likewise, the global pandemic has increased the graph of child labour in Pakistan. Subsequent lockdowns and closure of businesses caused large scale of job loss, compelling families to engage children in the labour.

According to Sahil, a local NGO working for children’s rights, over 1,489 minors have been reported to be sexually and physically abused in the first six months of 2020 alone. Out of these, over 53 per cent were girls and 47 per cent were boys.

Furthermore, according to a 2014 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report Pakistan is among 10 countries with the largest number of victims of homicide among children and adolescents up to the age of 19, with close to 3,000 victims in 2012.

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In an earlier statement, while speaking to The Express Tribune Bureau Chairperson Sarah Ahmed said that her department has noticed that the Central Punjab region is the most notorious for reported incidents of violence against children.

The reason, according to the chairperson, could be that the region, compared to other districts of Punjab, has greater awareness about the bureau’s presence and helpline.

“There are cases in other districts too, but they often go unreported. Often times, it’s the child’s own relatives or family-friends who are involved in the crime, which hinders reporting and punishment. The Child Protection Bureau is currently pursuing dozens of such cases province-wide. We are trying to ensure that no such culprit is bailed out and is punished to the full effect of the law,” asserted Ahmed.