LAHORE: A teenage housemaid died in mysterious circumstances in Iqbal Town here on Thursday.

The 14-year-old girl (M) was found in a serious condition with torture marks on her body when her parents were called by the landlord to his house at Nargis Block where she had been working as housemaid for the last one year or so.

The family of the landlord told her parents that she fainted due to some health issues.

Girl’s father Nasrullah took her immediately to a local hospital where she breathed her last.

The police experts reached the site when he called them on the reports of the medics that she might have been killed.

The Iqbal Town station house officer said apparently the body of the girl was bearing some marks but it was yet to be ascertained whether they were of torture or any disease.

He said the victim’s family was a resident of Sheikhupura and on Thursday night they were informed about the deteriorating health of the girl.

“We have decided to go for postmortem of the body on the request of the girl’s father to further ascertain the exact cause of her death,” the SHO said.

Surprisingly, he said, the father of the girl was unaware of the landlord’s name and other particulars, and the police team was going to visit the house after completing legal formalities for the postmortem.

In the evening, the Iqbal Town police registered a murder case against the house owner and a woman from Sheikhupura.

Nasrullah in the first information report alleged that Naziran Bibi had taken his daughter to Lahore for employment and she did not inform them about the employer and his residence.

He said for two months his family was kept in ignorance about the health of his daughter and on Thursday, he was taken to the employer’s house where his daughter was handed over to him in an unconscious condition.

In the FIR, the father alleged his daughter was subjected to torture which led to her death.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2021