Pakistani authorities investigate child torture case
Doctor and his army officer wife are accused of abusing their 11-year-old domestic worker
Islamabad: A magistrate here on Monday extended to November 2 the bail of a doctor accused of torturing their underage domestic worker.
The doctor and his wife, an army officer, are facing charges of torturing 11-year-old Kinza.
Based on the complaint from the Child Protection Bureau, the Airport Police of Rawalpindi registered an FIR against them under Section 34 and Section 328-A of Punjab Destitute & Neglected Children Act and 342-PPC.
On Monday, upon the request of the counsel for Mohsin Riaz, the judge extended his bail and adjourned the case until Friday.
According to an official from the Child Protection Bureau, the wife, an army officer who was from the Signals Corps and deployed in the computer department at the general headquarters, was being investigated by her commanding authorities and a thorough probe was under way.
If found guilty of torturing the girl, the officer would face strict disciplinary action, said the official requesting anonymity.
Army authorities have also sought the record of the case from the police station as well as the Child Protection Bureau and would interview the child in the next couple of days.
The incident is being taken as an isolated act.
A police official of the Airport Police Station when contacted confirmed the child had marks indicating physical assault.
The medico-legal report also confirmed that the child was subjected to torture and there were marks on her body and under her eye.
From the initial interaction with the husband, a doctor in a private hospital, it seemed like the couple were having psychological issues and were not on good terms with each other, the official said.
Kinza’s story caught the attention of the government after it went viral on social media.
After Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari took notice of the posts related to Kinza’s plight on social media, officials of the Child Protection Bureau and district police brought the victim and her father back to Rawalpindi on October 21 from their hometown of Samundri, District Faisalabad, and registered an FIR against Ammara Riaz and Mohsin Riaz.
While talking to Gulf News, Iftikhar Mubarak, executive director of an NGO working for children’s rights Search for Justice, said that unfortunately Pakistan despite being the signatory of United Nations Convention on Children’s Rights 1990 was far from banning child domestic labour.
