Child maid torture case: SC orders DNA to confirm identity of girl

Child maid torture case: SC orders DNA to confirm identity of girl

Islamabad (Staff Report/ Agencies): The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday heard Tayyaba torture case.

A two-member bench of the apex court headed by CJP Mian Saqib Nisar heard the suo motu case of 10-year-old Tayyaba who was allegedly tortured while working at the residence of Additional Sessions Judge Raja Khurram Ali Khan in the federal capital.

During proceedings, Advocate General Islamabad said Tayyaba could not be found. He added that a medical board comprising doctors from PIMS had been constituted to carry out Tayyaba’s medical examination.

After hearing this, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Saqib Nisar said if the child is not present how can the medical examination take place, adding that the whereabouts of Tayyaba should be found and she should be presented before the court. The court also directed police to use modern methods of investigation to complete the probe by Wednesday and present findings.

The court ordered DNA tests to confirm the identity of the parents of Tayyaba.

The hearing has been adjourned until Jan 11.

Earlier, two women appeared before the court, each claiming the girl is their child.

The case of the child maid's alleged torture came to light last week after photos of the child wounded and bruised began circulating on social media.

In a First Information Report, the 10-year-old girl stated that she had been living at the house of Additional District and Sessions Judge Raja Khurram Ali Khan for nearly two years.

The girl claimed that she was often beaten up in the house. Most recently, she alleged ‘Mano Baji’, Khan's wife, shoved her hands onto a burning stove and then beat her after a broom went missing.

She said the owners of the house would usually lock her up in a storeroom at night besides starving and beating her.

The police took the girl into custody after recovering her from the house of the judge.

However, the father of the child appeared in court on Tuesday and said he had "no objections" to the court granting bail to the suspects. He claimed that he had investigated the matter on his own and found the case to be a false one.