A 15-year-old domestic helper was allegedly tortured by her
employer in Bahadurabad area in Karachi where she has been working for
the past one-and-a-half years, police and her father said on Monday.
The girl was working as a domestic help at the house of a local builder in Kokan Society located on Alamgir Road.
District East SSP Dr Samiullah Soomro told Dawn
that police on Monday received an application by the girl’s father,
through a courier service, in which he alleged that his daughter had
been assaulted by the house owner.
The senior officer
said that the family has not formally approached the police to get a
first information report (FIR) registered, so a medical examination of
the girl was yet to be done in connection with ascertaining the veracity
of the allegations.
SSP Soomro said that around four
months ago the house owner had moved a complaint before Bahadurabad
police station, alleging that his house helper had stolen over Rs80,000
but he did not get the FIR registered.
Subsequently, both
the parties agreed to "settle" the matter without the intervention of
the police, he said, adding that parents of the girl had taken her away
following the settlement.
However, on Monday, the girl’s
father alleged before the media that the house owner had threatened and
compelled him to sign on blank papers in the presence of police.
The
girl's father said that when he brought his daughter to their home in
Qayumabad her health condition started deteriorating, whereas, she,
according to her father, disclosed that she was subjected to criminal
assault by the house owner.
The employer also allegedly
administered injections to her and the signs of administrating
injections were visible on her hands, the father claimed.
The
victim's father further clarified that he did not approach the police
directly because he did not expect justice from them as he had already
been threatened in the presence of several policemen to get the issue
“settled.”
The
father also alleged that his daughter, who used to get Rs8,000 monthly
pay from her employer, was locked in a washroom of the house. The owner
did not allow the family of the girl to meet her, he also alleged.
Bahadurabad SHO Ghanwar Ali Mahar confirmed to Dawn
that he received an application from the family’s lawyer through court.
He said the application doesn't contain any cell phone number to
contact the family.
The SHO said the court will take up
the application of the girl’s father on December 20; till then they will
have to wait for the court’s orders for taking further action.
