Islamabad police said on Friday that the statement of a teenage maid, who was reportedly severely tortured by a civil judge’s wife, had been recorded.

A resident of Sargodha, the teenage girl was shifted to the Lahore General Hospital on Monday when her employers — a civil judge in Islamabad and his wife — were accused of torturing her.

According to the girl’s medico-legal certificate (MLC), she had “laceration on head from vertex, on forehead, right side above eyebrow, swollen upper lips, laceration under upper lip on right side, broken left incisor and left canine, laceration on check, nose bleed, laceration on left side of vertex, multiple bruises on lower leg, fracture on right forearm, swollen left and right eyelids, bruise on right skull, laceration on back, multiple bruises on back and attempt on strangulation.”

After initially showing reluctance, Islamabad police had registered a first information report in the case on July 26. Police booked the judge’s wife for criminal intimidation and wrongful confinement, without mentioning physical torture in the FIR.

On Thursday, the Lahore High Court granted protective bail to the judge’s wife till August 1.

In a tweet today, the Islamabad police said the statements of the victim and her father had been recorded but the medical report had not yet been received.

It stated that all those involved in the crime were being investigated and action was being taken according to the law.

“Child labour is a crime under the law. If anyone is aware of any such incident, report it to the police,” the capital police added.

Earlier, a police officer told Dawn that the capital police initiated the investigation over the case and sent a team to Lahore and other cities to arrest the accused.

The investigation is being conducted by the relevant police station instead of the investigation wing’s Special Sexual Offence Investigation Unit under the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021. The SSOIU has a mandate to investigate offences against juveniles under the act, he added.

The police team raided houses in Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Gujranwala to arrest the accused but it failed, the officer said, adding that the supervisory officers of the team were informed that the accused obtained a pre-arrest bail.

Following the information about the bail, the team was asked to move to Lahore and meet the victim and her family, the officer said, adding that in response the team met the girl and her family at a hospital, and their statements were recorded.

SAPM asks police to ‘improve FIR’

Speaking on the matter to the media today, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SPAM) on Youth Affairs Shaza Fatima Khawaja asked police to “improve the FIR” of the case.

“I will ask the police to improve the sections included in the FIR. The girl’s parents have some reservations and the FIR needs to be improved,” she said, assuring that the government was standing with the girl and her family.

The SAPM termed the matter “unfortunate” and pointed out that under the Punjab Domestic Workers Act, it was illegal to hire a domestic servant below the age of 15.

She further stated that subjecting an individual to the extent of “cruelty” that the girl in this case had to bear “goes beyond one’s understanding” and could not be the work of a person “having a normal mental state”.

Khawaja also regretted that the suspect in the case had been granted pre-emptive bail.

“It (bail) should not have been given … everyone should be equal in the eyes of law and judges … we should save anyone or stop their arrest by illegal means,” she said.

Separately, a statement on the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Twitter said Shaza visited the girl at the hospital today and met her family.

“Her parents said they are being continuously threatened, following which the SAPM issued directives to police,” the statement said, adding that she instructed that the case should reach its logical conclusion at the earliest.

Khawaja also directed that the National Commission on the Rights of Child should provide complete assistance in the case.

She said in later tweets that she “will make every effort to expedite the medicolegal process” and the Sarghodha district police officer would be deploying security at the girl’s house so that “no one pressurises her family”.

Khawaja further said that she had ensured that doctors’ teams from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Sargodha would travel to Lahore today to ensure the fast completion of the girl’s medical reports.

The case

The case was registered at the Humak police station in response to the complaint from the girl’s father, a labourer by profession. According to the FIR, he sent his daughter to the house of the judge at Zartaj Housing Society through an acquaint against Rs10,000 per month salary.

On July 23, he along with his wife and brother-in-law came to the judge’s house to meet his daughter and found her injured and weeping in a room, it added.

They found infected injuries on his head besides wounds all around the face, both arms and legs, the FIR said, adding her tooth was also found broken and swilling on both lips and eyes.

“Her ribs were also found broken, and injuries were found on her back. Marks of strangulation were also found around her neck.”

When asked, she told her family that the judge’s wife used to torture and beat her with batons and spoons daily and did not provide her with dinner.

The FIR said the girl was detained in a room since her arrival at the house. Later, the family took her to the Sargodha DHQ hospital where the girl’s condition deteriorated and was then referred to Lahore.