THIS is with reference to the report “Teenage maid ‘severely tortured’ by judge’s wife” (July 25). It is a sad state of affairs in the land of the pure where underage children are tortured and sustain life-threatening injuries by their employers.

Why do we, in the first place, need a maid or a servant, and that, too, an underage child? This is sheer exploi-tation of the poor class both physically and financially.

A child who needs to be at a school is instead deployed as a domestic help and put under physical stress at that tender age. Why at all?

Monetarily, they are underpaid as they are not in a position to bargain because of their vulnerability and compulsion of circumstances.

The family, struggling to have two daily meals, make all sorts of compromises, for, after all, it is everyone’s survival that is at stake in such circumstances.

I fail to understand why we cannot get involved ourselves in domestic chores. Why can we not cut down on socialising, window-shopping in malls, visiting gyms, having coffee/tea parties and watching unproductive dramas on television and streaming platforms?

This could save a lot of time and energy, which we could spend taking care of domestic chores. We would do away with the need of hiring underage maids. Why can we not do this?

Still, if there is a need for domestic help, because, after all, many of us take it as a social stigma not to have a maid or a servant, why not hire professional adults and pay them the remuneration that is line with the prevailing market rate?

We all love to give sermons and lectures about the rights of the downtrodden, but our actions certainly suggest otherwise.

In the United States, Bill Clinton during his presidential tenure had proposed the name of Zoe E. Baird for attorney-general. When the name came up for confirmation in the US senate, the lady had to withdraw her name, as she was found to have hired an illegal alien couple without following the law. Can we expect such an aversion to illegality here?

Down here the laws are not only blatantly violated, but knowingly the reporting and registration of the crime is twisted and manipulated to benefit the accused. When we have so many regulatory authorities in the country, why can we not have one for monitoring the employment of domestic helpers?

Khaled
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023