9-year-old housemaid dies from alleged torture in Khairpur’s Ranipur

A nine-year-old girl died in Khairpur district’s Ranipur area, allegedly from torture at the haveli (mansion) she worked at as a minor housemaid, it emerged on Wednesday.

Sukkur Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Javed Jiskani confirmed the death to Dawn.com and said the police had initiated an investigation.

The incident was noticed after the maid’s death when videos of her body bearing torture marks during the burial circulated in the district, he said.

A first information report was lodged on the mother’s complaint at Ranipur police station under Sections 34 (common intention) and 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

DIG Jiskani said that Pir Asad Shah, the main suspect and owner of the mansion the deceased worked at, was arrested.

He said the girl was taken to a local hospital by the main suspect or his servants where doctors informed them that she was suffering from gastroenteritis.

“The parents [of the maid] didn’t share the facts with police initially and buried their daughter on August 15,” the DIG said.

“They were told that if they didn’t disclose facts then police will take action on their own and will go for exhumation and lodging a case,” the DIG said.

He added that Khairpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rohail Khoso spoke to the girl’s mother, who subsequently agreed to provide details.

“My daughter had a fractured arm. She had bruises and some marks — apparently of torture — were there on her body, especially around her neck and belly,” the DIG quoted the victim’s mother as saying.

“We have applied for the exhumation of the body for post-mortem examination as the girl was buried secretively by parents — apparently out of fear,” DIG Jiskani told Dawn.com.

The DIG said he had constituted a three-member team to investigate the matter and exhume the body for confirmation of the alleged torture.

The incident comes on the heels of a similar case last month where a minor housemaid, who was hired by a civil judge, was allegedly subjected to “severe torture” by her employers at their Islamabad residence.