Court sends judge’s wife on judicial remand in housemaid torture case

A sessions court on Tuesday sent Somia Asim - the primary accused in a case concerning the brutal torture of a teenage domestic worker - on a judicial remand after rejecting the police's request for physical remand.

Previously, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Humak police station on the complaint of the victim’s father, Manga Khan. It contained sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The case made headlines nationwide after images of the bruised and battered girl, said to be 14 years old, went viral in the last week of July. In the aftermath of the incident, it was revealed that she was employed at the residence of a civil judge, with the girl’s parents saying that she had named the judge’s wife as her abuser.

During the proceedings today, the accused - the wife of a civil judge - was presented before the judge as the police requested for her physical remand to be granted.

The court inquired what the law was related to the physical remand of the woman. On this, the police replied that if the accused was involved in murder or robbery, they are remanded, adding that they should be given physical remand for investigation.

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The female judge inquired what provisions will be imposed on the accused in this case. Upon this, the lawyer of the accused said that Section 324 applies in this case which pertains to an attempt to kill.

He also informed the court that the victim's condition has improved over the past few days.

The court observed that physical remand is granted in only two types of cases. The judge then invited the prosecution to present arguments about whether under Section 324 physical remand can be obtained or not.

The prosecution said that the videos are to be examined and the receipts of the money paid are to be recovered by the police.

However, the court observed that this would fall under the investigation stage of the proceedings.

The police argued that the video has to be recovered, to which the court said that the accused did not need to be in police custody in order for the material to be collected. "We cannot remand her just based on media hype," remarked the judge.

Meanwhile, the accused assured the court of her complete cooperation. "I have been cooperating in every way with the investigation. I was interrogated by the JIT until 11:30 PM. I am a mother of three children and yet I stayed there until midnight where I was questioned twice," said Somia as she sobbed complaining of having been subjected to mental torture.

The police however denied the allegations.

The accused on the other hand told the court that she had been transported to another residence yesterday where evidence was gathered.

The prosecution argued that the investigation has almost been completed as most of the primary evidence has already been collected. "After this statement, there is no need for physical remand," argued the lawyer.

The court initially permitted the accused to meet with her family. Later, the court reserved its decision and declined to grant physical remand in the case.

A day earlier, a district and sessions court in Islamabad rejected the bail extension plea of the accused and ordered her arrest in the case of alleged torture of a teenage domestic worker believed to be underage.

The accused appeared with her lawyer before Additional District and Sessions Judge Farrukh Fareed seeking extension in her interim bail. She had previously been granted bail by the Lahore High Court (LHC) which was later extended till August 7.

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After the hearing, the accused was arrested and transferred to the Women Police Station.

During the hearing, the accused’s lawyers questioned the chronology of events while maintaining that their client was not responsible for the torture. They suggested that the girl’s parents were responsible for it.

The girl’s mother was also in the courtroom and broke down on several occasions. The accused started weeping when her bail plea was rejected.

Dramatic scenes were witnessed at this point as the lawyer pleaded for the arrest to be deferred and said that the legal team would prefer to challenge the verdict in the Islamabad High Court. At this point, the accused began to cry and there was a minor scuffle reported between the lawyers and the police.

Later, the judge ordered for the courtroom to be cleared and a heavier contingency of the Islamabad police was brought in to secure the premises.