ISLAMABAD: On Tuesday, at the Islamabad High Court, doctors part of a panel of witnesses testified that the minor housemaid who had been rescued from the house of an additional district and sessions judge, showed signs of wounds created by a blunt object and suffered from superficial burns.
The case had first been brought to light on December 29th, 2016, when one of the doctors said they had first examined the girl at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). On medical examination, they found that the wounds on her body were about a day old and it was not possible to confirm whether the wounds were inflicted by someone or purely accidental.
The statement was recorded before Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC on Tuesday. It was stated that the girl had abrasions on the skin, burn marks and a swollen face with blackening under the eyes.
Official documents have revealed that the perpetrators, Judge Raja Khurram and his wife Maheen Zafar, were charged for allegedly assaulting, confining, ill-treating, neglecting, abandoning, harming and injuring the minor housemaid.
Although they couple has already pleaded ‘not guilty’, they are currently standing trial.
Previously, in January, members of the medical board at PIMS had considered the possibility that the 10 year old housemaid had been a victim of torture, however only the police could investigate and determine the facts. Now, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani revealed that in his own internal enquiry, the judge was found to be guilty and suggested “major punishment.”
The girl in question had already given her statement on the 23rd of May against the suspects where she told the court that it was Zafar who had burnt her hand and back and had struck her with a ladle. The little girl showed signs of disorientation as during cross examination, it was found she was unable to name the country she lived in or even differentiate between years and months, a telltale sign of the neglect and abuse inflicted on her.
During the cross questioning, the defence tried thoroughly to establish that none of the witnesses had actually seen the accused or his wife torturing the girl and the case was adjourned with directions that the registrar office would fix the next date of hearing.
