- The victim’s mother says that the judge contacted her to make peace.
- Says he offered to pay for the treatment and give extra money.
- “I don’t want to make peace because my daughter’s condition is very serious.”
Islamabad: The mother of a 14-year-old victim, who was subjected to violence and brutally thrashed by the wife of Civil Judge Asim Hafeez, said that the judge had offered to make peace on the matter but she refused.
Earlier today, the Islamabad Police registered a case against the wife of Civil Judge Asim Hafeez for inflicting severe torture on a juvenile employed as a domestic help in their house.
The harrowing case of the girl being brutally thrashed on a regular basis came to light after the victim was shifted to a hospital in Lahore with serious injuries, with the family accusing Judge Hafeez’s wife Soumia of torturing the child.
After the case, the teenage girl’s mother claimed that the civil judge had approached her and offered to make peace.
“The judge offered to bear the full cost of his daughter’s treatment and also to pay extra money. However, I told him that I want justice,” he said.
The mother said, “I told him that he should do justice in this matter like he does in the courts.” He said that he does not want to make peace as his daughter’s condition is very serious.
A case has been registered in Humak police station on behalf of the girl’s father, Manga Khan.
The complainant stated in the First Information Report (FIR) that she had sent her daughter to work as a domestic help for a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 seven months ago with the reference of an acquaintance named Chaudhary Mukhtar.
The girl’s parents came to know about her being tortured at the judge’s house only on July 23 when they went to meet him.
Significantly, the parents of the victim say that during these seven months they did not meet her but sometimes used to talk to her on the phone.
“when we [complainant, his wife and her brother] Entered the gate, we heard our daughter crying. Hearing this I got worried so we went towards the room and found my daughter in injured condition […]the complainant said in the FIR.
He alleged that the judge’s wife had subjected his daughter to severe torture and the girl had marks of torture all over her body.
Upon examining her condition, the parents found multiple bruises all over the girl’s body, severe wounds on the head, which were “infested with worms.”
The major injuries reported by the complainant include swelling on the lips and eyes, broken teeth and ribs and strangulation marks on the neck.
As per the FIR, the complainant has accused Somiya of harassing and keeping her daughter in illegal custody since the day she worked at the judge’s house and sought action on the matter.
Meanwhile, Islamabad Police said that action is being taken to arrest the suspect.
He said that the matter would be investigated on merit and all requirements of justice would be meted out.
Civil judge dismisses charges
earlier today, talking to geo newsRejecting the allegations, the judge had said that the wounds on the girl’s body were the result of eating soil from the planters kept in her house.
The judge had said, “The girl was a maidservant in our house. She had eaten the soil of the planters a month ago, due to which her skin had deteriorated.”
He had said that he had got the “skin condition” diagnosed and treated by a doctor in Gujranwala, but the girl used to pick and scratch her sores after her skin had healed.
Regarding the wound on her head, Hafeez claimed that when he told the girl that they would drop the child back to her house, she hit her head against the wall.
He also said that he did not know the condition of the wounds on the girl’s head as she had covered her head with a scarf.
“The girl used to tell us that her mother would beat her if she went back, so she did not want to go home, but we left her there,” Hafeez said.
“I am against physical abuse and incidents of torture have never come before me,” claimed the judge.
Hafeez had said that Somiya had told him that the girl did not work, so they dropped her off at her parents’ house in Sargodha.
Hafeez claimed, “My wife, along with the driver, dropped the child at her home in Sargodha.”
On the allegation of theft of jewellery, the judge had said that his wife had complained to him about non-receipt of jewellery, but he did not accuse the child of theft.
He had said that he was going to Lahore, where the girl is undergoing treatment, and wished her to recover soon.
