VIOLENCE ON DOMESTIC WORKERS (CHILDREN) BY THEIR EMPLOYEES

According to al.Islam org Hadith of Jami Trimidhi “ our Prophet Messenger Of Allah (Peace be Upon Him) said your slaves are your brothers .god has set as a trial under your authority therefore who ever has Mastery over one of his brothers should feed him from what he eats himself and should cloth him what he wears himself and should not burden him with tasks beyond his strength and if it is then he should assist him in doing whatever hard work he asks him to do” On 23rd July as reported on electronic media a girl Rizwana aged 14 yea rs was tortured by her employer who are a judge & his wife and different statements are narrated on media that Somia (Wife of Judge) dropped the victim to her house in Sargodha while the parents are given different statement that they were called to take the child ,whatever the girl is now in Rawalpindi hospital in very critical condition and as a team of 12 doctors was constituted who has submitted their report in court on 26th July 2023 according to which the victim is in ICU and very much critical with infected wounds especially on head, her mental condition due to torture is so much deteriorate that neither she is able to talk neither eat. She is fed by NG tube, her liver is damaged, both arms have fractures and blood is not properly circulating in body with all wounds on face . Police is waiting for her recovery so that statement can be recorded but meanwhile the accused has gone under ground and up to today not arrested while the middle man Mukhtiar who brought the girl to accused has been arrested. This is not the first case which is highlighted in media but many cases of torture of domestic children in near past has been reported and when we see all belong to high officials like TAYAABA, Zahra SHAH & Shazia Maseeh. 1) ZAHRA SHAH She worked as domestic worker o a couple living Bahria Town Rawalpindi was beaten to death as she released the Pet Parrots from cage ,she was 7 year old in May 2020 . According to Founding Partner of Mazari-Hazir Advocate & Legal Consultants according to she was not only raped but multiple injuries which were heart broken & she could not survive ,the accused were arrested and sent to Jail up to 6th June but still no one knows as usual the media & other NGOS did not follow . 2)TAYAABA In 2016 torture on Tayaaba aged 10 years by a notable Judge and his wife was highlighted on media where she was badly tortured by wife of Judge because she lost a broom. Initially the couple was sentenced 12 months jail in April 2018 but after prosecution it was converted to 3 years jail in June 2018 but again reversed to 12e months by SC (Dawn 10th January 2020) and who knows whether they remained in jail or not. 3)SHAZIA MASEEH In January 2010 10 year old Shazia Masih was tortured and killed in Lahore and similarly the accused was a lawyer and was released by court. These are few examples like Ice Berg of an issue which are reported and highlighted by Media for few days but how many cases go unreported due to fear or offered blood money. According to Express Tribune 18th December 2022 in spite that officials of International Labor Organization has urged Pakistan to ensure the compliance of International Convention on Child 7 Forced Labor but no any serious action against culprits has been taken. According to ILO over 264000 children work as domestic workers in Pakistan (Dawn 24th December 2022) though Pakistan is a signatory of Article 182 of ILO which poses ban on all farms of child labor but the government neglects it . In a study conducted by ILO and issued on 14th July 2022 determined that one in every Four houses in Pakistan employ a child as domestic worker from which predominately are girls between ages 10 to 14 years. According to ANI south Asia Leading Agency ( @5th July 2023) the children engaged in domestic work/Labor are exposed to hazardous work as carrying heavy tools, handling dangerous items like Knife & Hammers, making tea on stoves (Exposed to fire) and cleaning with toxic chemicals. Who those are live in (live in the houses of employers in servant quarters or stores) have no defined working hours and have no access to education. Mostly they are malnourished even suffer from verbal, physical & sexual abuse but due to fear do not tell any one including their parents unless exposed accidently by neighbors . When Zahra Shah torture case attracted the media the Minster for Human Rights at that time said this is test case for us and laws are there but need to be implemented and who will implement. No doubt poverty ,poor Social Security, Low literacy and unemployment are prevalent and rich people consider poor as slaves further children are kept as domestic worker because they are paid less and some times even not paid only food ,residence & clothes are given. Are we Muslims in real sense when we have to be kind with our slaves I wonder how that much torture is done on innocent children that not only damage their adult age because of psychological trauma but sometimes the price of parrots & broom is more than the life of a child.