HARIPUR, Jan 8: A senior civil judge, Haripur, on Saturday jailed an accused in the torture case of a housemaid, while the additional district and sessions judge granted pre-arrest bail to his wife, a co-accused in the crime.

Mumtaz and Shaheen Bibi had charged Mohammad Ishfaq and wife Kosar Bibi, a teacher at the Working Folks Public School, Haripur, with torturing their daughter Nazia Bibi.

The girl of village Phoee Gar was employed by the couple to take care of household chores and their baby, but according to the complainant she was subjected to severe corporal punishment.

On the complaint of Mumtaz and Shaheen, the city police registered a case against the couple under sections 355, 341, 342, 34, 337/5-1 of the Pakistan Penal Code and arrested Ishfaq.

The accused, who was remanded to police custody for one day on Thursday, was sent to Haripur jail by the senior civil judge Rozeena Rehman, while his wife Kosar was granted bail before arrest by the court of additional district and sessions judge Zamurud Shah till Jan 17.

Meanwhile, the district chapter of MMA, Rural Development Project (RDP), Women Voice, and Children Rights and Youth Development Organization (CRYDO) jointly staged a protest demonstration against the torture on Nazia Bibi by her employers.

The protestors hurled threats of laying siege to the Parliament House in Islamabad if their demands were not met within 24 hours.

Led by Syed Nazakat Shah, Shahid Goher of the MMA, Syed Ibrar Shah of the RDP, Ms Gul Ambrin Minhas of the Women Voice and Khalid Shahbaz of the CRYDO, the protest procession began from the Haripur Press Club and terminated before the district courts peacefully.

The participants, including women activists, were carrying placards inscribed with slogans denouncing the incident and demanding the transfer of lady doctor Irshad Begum of DHQ hospital, arrest of Kosar Bibi and severe punishment for the accused couple.

Speakers on this occasion lambasted lady doctor Irshad Begum of DHQ hospital Haripur and demanded her transfer, accusing her of taking side with the accused woman who was reportedly her class fellow. They said that the said doctor had been exerting pressure on the victim's family for a compromise.

They also demanded arrest of Kosar Bibi and threatened to lay siege to the Parliament House if their demands were not met within 24 hours.

Later, Provincial Minister for Transport and Fisheries Akhtar Nawaz Khan visited the Female Surgical Ward of Haripur DHQ hospital where he inquired about the health of Nazia Bibi and expressed solidarity with the victim's family and assured them of every legal support on the part of provincial government.

He asked the hospital's administration to take care of the patient.