Maltreatment: Child, 8, ‘burnt with hot iron rods’

SAHIWAL: A man has accused his niece’s stepmother of inflicting burn injuries on the eight year old. The child was taken to the hospital with burns on her feet and her body. Doctors fear the child might lose function in one of her feet because of the severity of the burns sustained. Police believe hot iron rods were used to inflict the injuries. The child’s uncle, Azhar, took the injured child to the Pathankot police station on Wednesday night. He told police that he lived in the same neighbourhood and had heard the child screaming. He said he had forced his way into Parveen Bibi’s – the child’s stepmother – house to find Parveen Bibi torturing the girl. Azhar alleged that Parveen Bibi had wanted to “get rid” of the young girl ever since she married Zafar, the child’s father. Zafar, he said, was in Peshawar to earn a living.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2013.