The couple in northeast Pakistan was detained on suspicion of killing a 13-year-old girl who worked for them as a maid, for alleged chocolate theft.
The girl who goes with only one name, IQRA, succumbed to multiple injuries at the hospital last Wednesday. A preliminary police investigation said she was tortured.
The case in Rawalpindi sparked widespread anger and posts with the hashtag #justiceforiqra, which collected tens of thousands of views and prevailed by discussing children’s work and harassment of domestic workers.
Laws relating to children’s work may differ in the whole country, but children under the age of 15 cannot be employed as domestic workers in the Punjab Province.
“I felt completely shattered inside when she died,” Iqra said, “Father Sana Ullah for the BBC.
He said he had received a police call about IQRA last Wednesday. When he rushed to the hospital, he saw Iqra lying on the bed, unconscious. She died a few minutes later.
Iqra started working as an eight -year -old maid. Her father, a 45-year-old farmer, said he sent her to work because he was in debt.
After working for several employers, she went to work for a couple two years ago, who have eight children of her. She earned about 23 £ ($ 28) a month.
Police said Iqra was accused of stealing chocolates from her employers, adding that a preliminary investigation showed that Iqra was tortured.
Police also say there was evidence of frequent abuse. Pictures and videos obtained by BBC have shown multiple fractures in the legs and arms, as well as a serious head injury.
An autopsy is being carried out to evaluate the entire scope of their injuries, and the police told the BBC that they are still waiting for the final medical report.
“My heart cries with tears of blood. How much … Every day is undergoing violence in his homes for trivial work of several thousand? “She was written by Shehr Bano’s activist on the x. “How long will the poor continue to lower their daughters into the graves this way?”
Others pointed out that her murder allegedly launched something so little.
“She died for chocolate?” He asked one Pakistani user on X.
“This is not just a crime, it’s a reflection [a] the system that allows [the] Rich for treatment [the] poor as one -time, “said the other.
Employers Iqra, Rashid Shafiq and his wife Sana, were arrested, along with the teacher of the Qur’an, who worked for the family. The teacher brought Iqru to the hospital and left after she said the hospital staff that the girl’s father had died and her mother was not around.
Police said the BBC that it was not clear if she believed it was true.
Iqir’s father says he wants to see “those responsible for my daughter’s death.”
Despite public anger, such cases usually attend, usually inhabited outside the court and rarely that the suspects are successfully processed.
IN 2018, the judge and his wife were sentenced to three years in prison To torment his then 10 -year -old maid in what was a very public case that caused anger throughout the country. But later their penalties reduced them to a year.
Tayyaba was found with serious injuries, for which the Pakistan Medical Science Institute said her hands and legs. Pictures of the girl also showed cuts and bruises on their face, along with a swollen left eye. She told the prosecutors she was beaten over the loss of a broom.
According to Pakistan’s law, victims or their families have the right to forgive suspects in numerous serious crimes. In order to do this, they must state in court to forgive the suspected “on behalf of God.”
In reality, legal observers say that the primary motive for this “forgiveness” is usually financially, and the payment of victims is not illegal.
About 3.3 million children in Pakistan are engaged in children’s work, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Furthermore, women and young girls make up the vast majority of Pakistani 8.5 million domestic workers, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
