A Pakistani couple appeared in court on Thursday, accused of killing a 13 -year -old maid, Iqra, who was supposedly beaten with a roller allegedly stealing chocolate. IQRA was urgently taken to the hospital in Rawalpindi on Tuesday in critical condition and then died from serious injuries.
According to the Rawalpindi police spokesman Sajad Ul Hassan, the couple, Rashid Shafiq and his healthy wife, were accused of murder and retained for four days while an investigation is conducted.
The spokesman revealed that the child had multiple fractures, even in his legs, arms and head, and that the abuse was supposedly due to a lost chocolate.
IQRA’s father, Sanoullah, a resident of a rural village in Punjab, revealed that his daughter had been working with the couple for 22 months, during which he was paid only 8,000 rupees ($ 28) per month. “The beasts tortured my daughter in a way that no human could do,” he said. “They demand justice for this brutality.”
In a similar case in Rawalpindi in 2020, a couple was arrested for allegedly killing their seven -year -old maid, who was blamed for allowing a pet bird escaping.
Child labor is still generalized in Pakistan, and the International Labor Organization (ILO) reports in 2022 that one in four homes employ a child in domestic work, particularly girls from 10 to 14 years.
While it is illegal to use children under 15, economic difficulties often force impoverished families to send their young daughters to work.
