ISLAMABAD, Jan 25 The National Assembly voiced outrage on Monday over the alleged murder of a young maid by torture at the house of a lawyer in Lahore, demanding, in a unanimous resolution, “severest” punishment for the perpetrators of the crime.

Members from all parliamentary groups condemned the incident and called for stern action against child labour and domestic violence, after the house observed one-minute silence for 12-year-old Shazia Masih, television pictures of whose wounds have sent shock waves across the country.

But Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi did not grant ANP member Bushra Gohar's request that Minorities Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who is a Christian, lead a prayer in the house for the victim, ruling that prayers be better left reserved for the members of the house and their relatives.

Mr Bhatti later moved the consensus resolution which condemned the murder, expressed sympathies with the victim's family and demanded “the severest punishment” for the culprits.

Most of the day's sitting was consumed by speeches, made on points of order, mainly about the Lahore case, before the house was adjourned until 10am on Tuesday.

As done in the resolution, several members praised President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for taking personal interest in the case that some said overcame initial police hesitation to move against the accused.

But PML-Q's Begum Atiya Inayatullah regretted what she called “silence” of the lawyers' community over the case in which a former president of the Lahore Bar Association was the main accused, and demanded that the government promptly move against what she saw as a “gang” engaged in abusing children.

Asiya Nasir of the JUI said hundreds of thousands of children suffered torture every year. She called for an explanation -- which did not come -- from the labour and social welfare ministers about what was being done to check such practices.

An independent member from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Zafar Baig Bhittani, came out with what he himself said would “appear as an unreasonable” suggestion to seek help from the Pakistani Taliban who, he claimed, would eliminate such practices within six months.

But the suggestion was condemned by PML-Q's Sardar Bahadur Khan Sehar who blamed the situation on a perceived brutalisation of the society over the past 30-35 years and drew attention to the reported “sale” of children in southern Punjab to be employed for camel races in the Gulf.

PPP's Nawab Yousuf Talpur, in a passionate speech, complained for the second time within a week about what he called “extreme injustice” being done to Sindh because of alleged denial of its due share from the Indus river and said the situation would aggravate if a planned power plant was set up on the Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal in Punjab.

Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf denied the allegation, saying the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) was giving each province its due share under the 1991 water-sharing accord and that the proposed power project would use water only from Punjab's share.

A PPP member, Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, said three districts of the former Bahawalpur state also suffered severe water scarcities and were on the verge of a “revolt”. He counselled that the matter be taken up with Irsa members rather than being politicised.

MQM's Wasim Akhtar urged the federal government to take notice of what he called a worsening law and order situation in Sindh, particularly abductions for ransom in Karachi and other areas, after accusing the provincial government of not doing enough to improve the situation.

PML-Q's Marvi Memon alleged that violence and burning of houses in Miro Khan Lehari village in Sindh was political victimisation of her party's followers at the behest of what she called the “noble royalty of Nawabshah”. She walked out of the house in protest.