In Islamabad, the wife of a Civil Judge named Asim Hafeez has subjected her 14-year-old domestic help to severe torture. The case came to light on July 25 when the girl was taken to a hospital in Lahore with serious injuries. The victim’s parents discovered the torture when they went to visit her and found her in a wounded condition.
The injuries on the girl’s body were extensive, including wounds on her head infested with maggots, swelling on her lips and eyes, broken teeth, ribs, and strangling marks on her neck. The complainant, who is the girl’s father, alleged that the judge’s wife, Somia, had been torturing and illegally keeping his daughter in custody since she started working at their house.
The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police filed a case against the judge’s wife under section 328-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with cruelty to a child. However, the accused woman was granted protective bail by the Lahore High Court until August 1, preventing her arrest.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, and Chairperson of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, Ayesha Raza, visited the victim at the hospital and expressed their support for the family. Khawaja demanded that the attempt to murder section (Section 324) should be added to the FIR. The preliminary medical report revealed 15 serious wounds all over the girl’s body.
Despite police raids, the judge and his wife have not been apprehended for investigation. The girl’s parents had sent her to work as domestic help with a monthly salary of Rs10,000 seven months ago. They had not met her during that time but occasionally spoke to her over the phone.
The case has sparked outrage and concerns over child labor and the abuse of domestic workers, and authorities are working to bring the victim to justice.
