Torture victim battling for life, says family
The OPD at the Sargodha District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital wears a deserted look due to a strike. Photo: Express/FILE
The underage domestic worker, who was allegedly subjected to torture at the house of a judge in Islamabad, remains between life and death as her condition failed to improve on Friday.
The family said that the 14-year-old’s condition deteriorated late Thursday night, and she was shifted to the ventilator as she remained in intensive care.
Earlier in the day, the Islamabad police had confirmed that they had recorded the statements of the victim and her father. In her statement, the torture victim said the wife of the judge was responsible for the torture, police sources said.
Her initial medical inspection, at a hospital in her hometown Sargodha, had found at least 15 torture marks on her body. Her medico-legal certificate (MLC) stated that she had “laceration on head from vertex, on forehead, right side above eyebrow, swollen upper lips, laceration under upper lip on right side, broken left incisor and left canine, laceration on check, nose bleed, laceration on left side of vertex, multiple bruises on lower leg, fracture on right forearm, swollen left and right eyelids, bruise on right skull, laceration on back, multiple bruises on back and attempt on strangulation.”
The girl was allegedly subjected to brutal torture by the wife of a civil judge in Islamabad and a case was lodged by the parents of the girl at the Humak police station.
The torture took place over allegations that the girl had either stolen or misplaced valuables, according to the family.
The judge denied that the girl was tortured even as the media was flooded with images of the badly bruised and battered child whose face was swollen and cut while there were deep gashes on her head that was infested with maggots.
The judge claimed that the wounds on the head were self-inflicted as ‘the girl did not want to return to her family’. He said the swollen face was due to the girl eating manure and dirt for which they had gotten her treatment. “The swelling is due to a reaction from the cream prescribed by the doctor,” he said earlier in the week.
Since then, he has agreed to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation while staying in hiding. Police said that they had raided several locations.
The judge’s wife has since acquired pre-arrest bail from the Lahore High Court till August 1.
(With input from DNA)
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2023.