Dubai: Pakistan police have arrested a couple for beating their eight-year-old maid to death for letting two parrots free from the cage.
The police, however, came into action after the news set social media on fire with politicians and human rights activists condemning the gory incident.
According to the first information report (FIR) registered with the police in Rawalpindi, eight-year-old Zohra Shah was hired as housemaid by the accused identified as Hassan Siddiqui who deals in property and birds selling business.
Zohra was brought to a local hospital on Sunday with injuries on her body. She succumbed to her injuries later and her employers were arrested the same day. They have been remanded into police custody until June 6. According to the police, the suspect admitted that he and his wife had beaten Zahra after she let his expensive pet parrots escape from their cage.
The FIR says the victim had injuries on her face, hands, below her rib cage and legs. Zahra’s body was handed over to her family after a post-mortem examination, which revealed that the victim had died due to her injuries.
Zohra was cleaning the cage when the two 'expensive' parrots flew away.
The girl, who hailed from an impoverished village of Kot Addu in Southern Punjab, had been employed by the couple four months ago to take care of their one-year-old child, according to media reports. The employer had promised with her parents to also provide her with education.
The incident has once again highlighted the sorry state of affairs when it comes to hiring domestic workers especially minor and teenage children in violation of the country’s labour laws.
In her tweet, Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said the ministry had taken notice of the incident and was in contact with the police. She added that the human rights ministry’s lawyer was following the case as well.
