LAHORE: A domestic child worker was allegedly murdered and his younger brother injured by the employers over petty mistakes at a Defence Housing Authority (DHA) house on Monday.

The police investigators who investigated the murder case of Kamran, 10, and his injured brother Rizwan, 6, said they found deep bruises of sharp-edged weapons.

A police official said the children were hired by Nasrullah, a resident of DHA’s Phase III. He said police received an emergency call from a private hospital that it had received a domestic child worker dead and another critically injured. The doctors said the body of the deceased boy had deep torture marks while the condition of the other boy was serious.

Police experts reached the hospital and after initial investigation concluded that the act of the brutality was committed by the family of the house owner. The official said Nasrullah and his son Mahmoodul Hassan brought the children to the private hospital to conceal the crime.

Meanwhile, senior police officers also reached there on being informed about the crime, he said, adding that the injured boy told them that Hassan and his brother Abul Hassan used to torture him and his brother over trifling mistakes.

On Monday, he said, the suspects tied them with ropes in a room and subjected them to severe torture using sharp-edged tools. They kept on beating them for many hours which led to the death of his elder brother, he said, adding that the other members of the family including women were also present there.

The police official said those who committed the heinous crime were Nasrullah, his wife Shabana, two sons and his daughter-in-law Hinna. All these suspects had been nominated in the murder case lodged against them on the complaint of ASI Amanullah. Police arrested Nasrullah, his son Hassan and Shabana while other suspects fled.

The IGP took notice of the murder of the child and directed the Lahore police highers-ups to arrest the perpetrators and stay in contact with the affected family.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2022