Pakistan: 14-year-old domestic help at judge’s house tortured, hospitalised

According to Geo News, a man was detained for allegedly sending a 14-year-old girl to a judge’s home to work as domestic help where she was allegedly tortured by the judge’s wife.

The domestic help was allegedly tortured at civil judge Asim Hafeez’s home, the report stated, adding that his wife, too, tormented her. The alleged incident took place in Pakistan’s Sargodha.

The Superintendent of Police, Sargodha, confirmed that the person, identified as Mukhtar, who sent the minor to the judge’s house for the job, was arrested, adding that action will be taken as per the law, Geo News reported.
Further, the minor’s parents told Geo News that they consented to sending their daughter to the judge’s residence as a maid seven months ago, on the advice of Mukhtar.
According to the report, the minor’s parents alleged that the judge’s wife would torture her and that there were torture marks all over her body.
The judge’s wife accused the girl of stealing jewellery and beat her up with a bat, the victim’s parents added, according to Geo News.

The judge, however, refuted the assertion, stating that although his wife had told him about the incident after discovering her jewelry, she had not accused the child of theft. The report stated that the parents further claimed that as their daughter’s condition deteriorated, the judge’s wife dropped her off at her home in Sargodha in a “critical condition.” Thereafter. The minor was taken by her parents to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Sargodha, and as her condition deteriorated, they later transferred her to the General Hospital in Lahore.

Further, according to the hospital authorities, the girl was being treated for a head injury, Geo News reported, adding that initial medical reports confirmed that the child sustained 15  injuries.