KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Thursday remanded three men in police custody and sent two women to prison in a case involving a teenage maid allegedly having been tortured by her employers.

Police have booked Abdul Razzaq, his wife Maryam along with three members of their domestic staff, including a woman, for allegedly subjecting the 16-year-old girl to torture at their house in the Defence Housing Authority.

The investigating officer produced the suspects before a judicial magistrate (South) and sought custody for questioning. The court handed the three male suspects over to the police on a two-day physical remand and sent both women to prison on a judicial remand.

According to the police, the victim, a resident of Qayyumabad, had been working for the family for the last six months and had suffered severe burn injuries inflicted by a hot iron. Her father lodged an FIR at the Darakshan police station under Sections 324 (attempted murder), 337 (causing injuries/disfigurement on the head or face of any person that does not amount to itlaf-udw or itlaf-i-salahiyyat-i-udw) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Report in octogenarian’s death case submitted

Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate submitted an initial inquest report to the district and sessions court in a case pertaining to the death of an 82-year-old man.

A medical team, under the supervision of the magistrate, exhumed the body of Rasheed Ahmed, to determine the cause of death as initially it was declared to be a suicide case.

The initial report suggested that the victim was strangled to death, adding that samples were collected for analysis and the final report on the cause of death was reserved till the receipt of the chemical examination.

According to the prosecution, the family of the victim claimed that Mr Ahmed had committed suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of a building in June. However, Mr Ahmed’s son Nasir Siddiqui, who was based in the US, arrived here and lodged an FIR against his brother Imtiaz and his son for allegedly killing their father over a property dispute.

However, the then investigating officer SI Mohammad Arif had not charge-sheeted the nominated suspects and submitted an A-class report after the medico-legal officer, Dr Zahid Ansari, in a report claimed that the death was caused by the victim falling from a building.

Thereafter, the complainant moved an application before the court and submitted the investigation was being closed on the pretext of forged medical report and requested for exhumation of body to verify the cause of death. The complainant also asked the court to transfer the investigation of the case. The court has transferred the investigation of the case to the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2017