Domestic work hazard: Child maid’s employer confesses to beating

He had earlier said that a tree fell on her.

LAHORE:

The police on Monday charged the employer of a 15-year-old maid with murder after he confessed that he had beaten her for stealing from him.

Police said Professor Salman Rashid, of Islamia College, Railway Road, had brought Fizza Batool, his maid, to a private hospital late on Sunday night with serious injuries.

She was referred to Services Hospital where she was treated until she died.

Police said Rashid had earlier said she had gotten injured when a tree at his house fell on her and later that she had injured herself to avoid punishment for stealing valuables from him.

Cantonment division Operations SP Umer Riaz Cheema said the case was registered with Defense A police on behalf of the state to protect the girl’s family from being pressured.

Cheema said a medical board at the Services Hospital had found that the girl had suffered at least 13 injuries.

Batool, of Sialkot, had been working at Rashid’s house for six years, police said.

Cheema said the girl had apparently been abandoned by both parents. Her grandmother was contacted following the hospitalisation.

Cheema said she had been beaten with a steal rod. He said her family took her body to her home town, Sambrial, for burial. The chief minister has taken notice. Chief Minister’s Adviser on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique and Minister Rana Mashhood had visited the hospital on Sunday to inquire about her before she died.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2014.