Another torture case involving a child housemaid was registered in Islamabad on Saturday after a 12-year-old alleged that she was physically abused and not allowed to visit home for the past four years.
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged under Section 154 at the Golra Police Station on a complaint filed by the girl and her parents against the owner of the house where she was detained and his mother.
The two were taken into custody and questioned.
The girl named the owner of the house, his mother, his sister and another house servant in her complaint.
The housemaid alleged that she was tortured with hot knives and beaten with leather belts and was not once allowed to visit her family over a four-year period.
This is the second such case to emerge in the federal capital since late December 2016, when 10-year-old Tayyaba, who was allegedly tortured by former additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife, was rescued from the accused's house in Islamabad with visible wounds.
An FIR was registered in that case against Khan him and his wife, Maheen Zafar, on Dec 29, 2016.
The case has since seen many twists and turns, with the Supreme Court taking suo motu notice after police and a lower court 'mishandled' the case and the child's father changing his testimony twice and pardoning the accused on two separate occasions — allegedly under pressure.
On March 17, the same day this new child abuse case surfaced, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) said it was reserving its decision regarding which court will hear the Tayyaba case.
Multan
In a similar case of torture, a child housemaid ran away from her workplace and found refuge in a vocational institute in the Shalimar Colony area of Multan.
The 10-year-old maid allegedly worked at Kasbah Union Council Chairman Mian Asim's house and was beaten up regularly.
Upon finding the girl at their vocational institute, the women running the centre informed the area's counsellor who told these women to not let the child out of their sight until either her parents arrive to collect her or her employers promise to not resort to violence again.
No FIR or police report was registered in the case.