Child maid torture case: Lawyers, rights activists hail verdict

ISLAMABAD: As the Islamabad High Court (IHC) sentenced a judge and his wife for torturing a 10-year-old girl working as a maid in their house, the legal fraternity and rights activists hailed the decision as ‘fair’, ‘logical’ and ‘historic’.

Some, though, raised some questions on the term of punishment awarded and how the couple was able to secure bail soon after the verdict was pronounced.

Lawyers in the capital welcomed the sentence.

“This decision will have an immense social impact and now people will be more cautious in dealing with helpers, particularly children who should be studying in school instead of working in houses,” stated Barrister Afzal Hussain while reacting to the decision.

For senior lawyer Barrister Saifur Rahman, the decision had firmly upheld the law.

“It (the verdict) is an example that all are equal before the law and that no one is above the law,” Barrister Rahman said, adding, “We must trust our judiciary instead of doubting their decisions.”

He further said that Justice Amir Farooq was a mature judge who had paid special attention to this case, giving a “logical” decision.

“Although the accused was a sitting judge of Islamabad, the court conducted a trial fairly and announced the punishment as per the prosecution’s evidence,” noted Barrister Hassan Mehmood, adding, “This judgment would increase the confidence of the public on our judicial system.”

Prominent rights activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir pointed out the significance of the case since the chief justice had taken suo moto notice and exercised parental jurisdiction. Hence, he contended that the couple should have been handed exemplary punishment.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, he noted that the judge and his wife had been sentenced under Section 328-A which carries a maximum sentence of three years. However, the court, he said, had exercised its discretion and awarded only a year-long sentence.

“To grant bail right after the sentence has paved the way for the couple to not spend even a single day in prison,” he added.

Human rights lawyer Sharafat Chaudhry echoed Nisar’s sentiments.

“Award of the bail is within the parameters of the law,” Chaudhry pointed out, but added, “It has raised eyebrows that the powerful may go home even after being convicted as the system works efficiently for the powerful but sluggishly for the poor.”

He also criticised the police and prosecution, blaming them for preparing a weak case since they failed to include sections 336-A, 336-B for the burns the girl had suffered.

Welcoming the judgment, he pointed out that this was possibly the first punishment handed out for cruelty to a child under the Criminal Law Second Amendment Act 2016, and that too against a sitting judge.

“This judgment has introduced the offence of cruelty to children amongst the public and people will be more careful when dealing with children,” he said.

“Justice has won today because the IHC decision has focused on holding one of its own accountable in a historic judgment,” said Development Pakistan Group Executive Director Valerie Yusufzai while talking to The Express Tribune.

She hoped that more than the severity of the judgment, the certainty of getting punished for a wrong would serve as a deterrent to others.

Yusufzai noted that darkness to had emerged during the course of the case when lawyers opposed the rule of law and used violence to protect a perpetrator.

“Whilst the judge has followed the principles of justice, much is left,” she said pointing to the weakness of the prosecution and urged the attorney general to nominated qualified lawyers for such test cases.

“The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) must become a party to this case bring in charges that the child’s representatives did not defend appropriately or sometimes even dismissed,” she suggested.

Tahira Afrasiyab of Muslim Hands said that there must be a comprehensive law to protect and provide welfare to domestic workers at the federal and provincial levels.

“Even child sexual abuse cases are quite high among domestic workers but they go unnoticed and unreported,” she said.

Meanwhile, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) welcomed the verdict.

“The commission believes that this decision would greatly contribute in addressing the issues faced by domestic workers especially women and girls,” the NCSW said in a statement as it called for the comprehensive law on protection and welfare of domestic worker at federal and provincial level.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Raja Khurram and his wife Maheen Zafar, had been charged for allegedly assaulting, confining, ill-treating, neglecting, abandoning, harming and injuring the minor housemaid. The gruesome story of the juvenile maid was picked up by the media after it first went viral on social media on December 29, 2016. Subsequently, the police registered a case and the Islamabad High Court’s top judge also took notice and directed the registrar to initiate an inquiry.

But the supposed father of the girl pardoned her tormentor and went missing with the child. The Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the incident; overruled the ‘pardon’ granted to the judge and his wife and directed the police to present the girl.

Subsequent medical report revealed that the child sustained 11 contact burn and trauma injuries and infection on face and neck, both knees, right thigh, left toe, back, right and left arms, and right buttock.

Source: Express ribune