RAWALPINDI: Police revealed on Sunday that Kinza Bashir, an eleven-year-old maid, had been tortured by her employers — a woman army officer and her husband. Three-day-old cuts with blunt weapons had been found on the victim’s head, besides multiple wounds on other parts of her body.

Speaking at a press conference at the Police Lines following the receipt of the girl’s medical report, City Police Officer Abbas Ahsan said an FIR had been registered with the Airport Police Station against the couple on charges of keeping a child in detention, torturing and inflicting injuries and under section 34 of the Child Protection Act on a complaint of Mohammad Naveed Akhtar, the child protection officer.

The CPO said the army had also been informed about the legal proceedings against the suspect — a lady doctor (Dr Major Ammara Riaz, wife of Dr Mohsin Riaz) — since the military had its own system for taking action against the suspects.

The victim, who hails from Thothian village, Sumandri, was taken to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital by the Airport police accompanied by her father Mohammad Bashir for medical examination at about 1.50pm on Sunday.

CPO Ahsan said a neighbour had reported the incident to Rescue 15 which later informed the Airport police about it. ASI Sajjad Hussain, who was sent to the crime scene, did not inform senior police officers about the incident and hushed up the matter, which led to his suspension.

After the incident was brought to the notice of senior police officers, a police team was sent to Sumandari (Faisalabad) to bring back the girl and her father for legal action against her employers.

Mohammad Naveen said in the FIR that Kinza had been employed in the house of the woman doctor serving in Army Medical Corps at Wilayat Colony for the past one-and-a-half years and she had been brutally tortured by her employers which caused severe injuries to her. He said that after getting news about the maid’s torture, he went to the Airport police station and found that the victim along with her father had been brought back to Rawalpindi from their native town.

The victim informed the child protection officer and police that she had been locked in a room by Dr Riaz and Dr Ammara when they left for their duty. She alleged that she had been subjected to torture with belts, rubber pipe and kit­chen knife over petty mistakes. There were marks of torture on the girl’s body parts.

Police sources said Dr Riaz, a private practitioner, had been taken into custody by the Airport police, while the army authorities had been informed about the involvement of Dr Ammara in the torture incident and the FIR registered against her.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2018