'Die for stealing chocolate': Pipo provoke over death of child maid

BBC News

18-02-2025

One husband and wife for north-east Pakistan dey detention on top suspicion say dem fit don kpai one 13-year-old girl wey bin work for dem as housegirl, for allegedly stealing chocolates.
Di girl wey dem sabi wit only one name, Iqra, die for hospital on Wednesday sake of plenty injury. Di first investigate wey police do say she bin dey tortured.
Di case for Rawalpindi don provoke pipo for different parts of di kontri and posts wit hashtag #JusticeforIqra dey fly upanda for social media wit thousands of views.
Dis mata don bring back di debate over child labour and di mistreatment of domestic workers.
Laws wey concern child labour fit dey different for different parts of di kontri, but children wey dey under di age of 15 no fit dey employed as domestic workers for province of Punjab.
"I feel completely shattered inside wen she die," Iqra papa, Sana Ullah, tell BBC.
Im say im bin receive call from police about Iqra last Wednesday. Wen im rush go di hospital, im see Iqra lie down for bed, unconscious. She die minutes later.
Iqra begin work as housegirl from di age of eight. Her papa, 45-year-old farmer, say im bin send am to work becos im bin dey owe money.
After working for few employers, she begin work for dis husband and wife wey get eight children of dia own, two years ago.
She bin dey collect about £23 ($28) per month.
Police say dem bin accuse Iqra say she chocolates from her employers, come add say di first part of dia investigation dey show say di girl collect wotowoto.
Police also say dem see evidence of frequent abuse.
Pictures and videos wey BBC bin see show multiple fractures for her legs and arms, as well as serious injury for her head.
Dem bin do one autopsy to assess di full extent of her injuries, and police don tell BBC say dem still dey wait di final medical report.
"My heart dey cry tears of blood. How many... dem dey subject to violence for dia homes evri day for one yeye work wey dem just dey pay few thousand?" activist Shehr Bano write for X. "How long di poor go continue to dey bury dia daughters dis way?"
Odas don point out say na just one small sometin bin cause her death.
"She die sake of chocolate?" one Pakistan user for X ask.
"Dis one no just be crime, na reflection of system wey dey allow di rich to treat poor as wetin dem fit troway," anoda tok.
Iqra employers, Rashid Shafiq and im wife Sana, don chop arrest, even di Quran teacher sef wey dey work for di family sef join.
Di teacher bin carry Iqra go hospital, leave am dia afta im tell hospital pipo say di girl papa don die and her mama no dey around.
Police tell BBC say e neva clear weda she believe say na di truth be dat.
Iqra papa say im wan see "di pipo wey get hand for im pikin death suffer punishment".
Even wit all di vex wey dis kain case dey gada from di public, typically na out of court dem dey settle am and e rare for dem to successfully prosecute suspects.
For 2018, one judge and im wife chop three years sentence to chill for prison for torturing dia 10-year-old housegirl for one seriously public wey provoke pipo across di kontri.
But dem later reduce dia sentence to one year.
Dem bin find Tayyaba wit setious injuries, wey di Pakistan Institute of Medical Science say bin include burns for her hands and feet.
Pictures of di girl also show cuts and wounds for her face, her left eye swell. She bin tell goment lawyers say dem beat her becos she loss broom.
Under Pakistani law, victims or dia families get right to forgive suspects wey commit serious crimes.
To do so, dem gatz tok for court say dem don forgive di suspect "in di name of God".
In reality, legal observers say di primary purpose of dat "forgiveness" na normally financial, and paying victims no dey illegal.
About 3.3 million children for Pakistan dey do child labour, according to United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
Moreover, women and young girls na dem be majority of Pakistan 8.5 million domestic workers, according to International Labour Organisation (ILO).