Lahore maid found dead, employers on the run

A 12-year-old employed as a domestic worker at a house in Lahore’s Iqbal Town was found dead, the police said on Saturday.

Her family has accused the employers of raping and murdering her. According to the victim’s father, a resident of Sheikhupura, she had been working at the house for two months.

“In the last few weeks, every time I called the employers, they would not let me talk to my daughter and said she was working or gave some other excuse,” Abbas Ali said.

On January 27, Ali received a call from an unknown number asking him to take his daughter back home as she was not feeling well.

“When we reached there, my daughter was unconscious,” he said, adding that the 12-year-old was immediately moved to a hospital where the doctor declared her dead.

When the family went back to the employers, there was a lock on the house and their numbers were switched off.

Ali has registered an FIR at the Iqbal Town police station. A case has been registered under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The investigating officer said that a post-mortem examination of the girl has been conducted and details regarding the death will only be revealed after the reports come out.

The police are trying to arrest the perpetrators and further investigations are under way.

According to the new clause, any child under the age of 14 years can not be employed as domestic labour.