Child abuse: Child worker’s hand mangled, another beaten

No one has been arrested for violence against underage employees.

FAISALABAD/ SARGODHA:

A case each of violence against child domestic workers was reported from Sargodha and Faisalabad on Monday.

In Sargodha, 15-year-old Khurram Shehzad lost the fingers on his right hand allegedly when his employer pushed it into a shredder.

The boy was taken to a hospital, where doctors treating him said that he had lost  three fingers and the thumb. They said his condition was now out of danger.

Mela police said that Shehzad was a resident of Pul Miani in Bhabra and worked at the dera of a landlord, Inayat, known by his first name only.

Shehzad said that on Monday, Inayat and his sons, Sikandar and Raiz, beat him up for not shredding fodder properly.

He said they made him shred the fodder again. When they told him to do it a third time, he said, he refused saying his hand was hurting. He said the three men then held him arm and pushed it into the shredder. He said he fell on the ground crying in pain. Seeing his hand bleed, he said, Inayat called some co-workers and took him to a hospital and fled.

The family was reluctant to report the incident to the police saying they had been threatened by Inayat and his men. However, after a few hours, they informed the police and filed a complaint against Inayat.

Station House Officer Rab Nawaz said that the suspect was missing since the incident. He said police were looking for him.

In Faisalabad, a 10-year-old maid was beaten up allegedly by her employer on Monday and her head shaved.

Her mother, Shabana Bibi, said that after her husband’s death she had started working at hosiery factory. She said her daughter, Shiza, worked at a house in Gulistan Colony as a full-time domestic helper and visited home once a week. She said on Monday when she went to meet Shiza, she found out that her employer had beaten her and shaved her head. She said Shiza had also been starved and had not been fed for two days. She said she took her daughter away.

The Mansoorabad station house officer said that no case had been registered yet.

He said the employer’s son, Waqas, had been called to the police station for questioning and had denied the accusation.

Waqas alleged that Shabana Bibi had received two months’ salary in advance and was now asking for more. He said when his mother refused to give her more money, she made up the story.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2012.