A medical examination of minor domestic worker Kinza has confirmed that she has suffered torture allegedly by her employers, Major Ammara Riaz and Dr Mohsin Riaz, who the police say are on the run as a case has been registered against the couple, media reported on Sunday.
According to the medical report released by Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, an examination was done to investigate the extent of the injuries suffered by the 11-year-old house servant.
Results from the ultrasound revealed that there were swelling and tenderness in Kinza’s abdominal region and her chest and ribcage are also tender to the.
Kinza’s left shoulder and left arm were tender and “not moving on their own”, as reported by the medical-legal officer (MLO) in the report. Moreover, her neck had multiple old wound marks determined to be caused by fingernails; no bruises or swelling, however, were observed, the report read.
The report further stated that she had a mark on her right cheek and her right eye had slight damage to the cornea. Kinza’s head also has a deep cut on her left side which is “bleeding actively” according to the MLO’s report.
The findings mentioned above are all consistent with Kinza’s account of the torture which she reported in a video that surfaced on Twitter on Saturday. The report confirms that there is evidence of torture carried out 15-20 days ago using “knife, belts and persons standing on her straight with full weight multiple times”.
Case registered against Major Ammara and her husband
A case has been registered at Airport police station against Major Ammara Riaz and her husband Dr Mohsin Riaz on the complaint of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau and they will be tried under the Child Protection Act, Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Abbas Ahsan said during a press conference later in the day.
Accompanying the CPO were Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Umar Jahangir and SSP Operations Ali Akbar Shah.
“We found out about Kinza through social media. Rescue 15 service also received a call on October 19 from Colonel Sajjad [a neighbour] who registered a complaint against the suspects,” CPO Ahsan said.
“Our team reached the location last night to recover Kinza,” he said while narrating the events which took place a day earlier.
He said the ASI who has been suspended for not filing a report will also face departmental inquiry by the police.
“We will always take action whenever we receive information about any such incident,” he assured all those in attendance at the press conference.
When asked by DawnNewsTV, what is being done for the countless children being abused in shops and homes everywhere, DC Jahangir sought to end the press conference and only remarked: “The media will always be updated through press conferences regarding whatever actions are taken by the police in this regard.”
In response to a query, CPO Ahsan said that Kinza had not complained of sexual assault, complaining only of being beaten by her employers, however, a complete medical checkup will be done to ascertain all the facts.
Kinza’s story
A young girl hired as a domestic worker in Rawalpindi was allegedly tortured by her employers for over a year, it emerged on Saturday.
The case, a grim reminder of the infamous Tayyaba torture case of 2016, came to light through a series of videos shared on Twitter in which the child can be seen narrating her ordeal.
The child named Kinza, an 11-year-old per her own estimate, had said in the videos that she was employed as a domestic worker at the residence of Ammara Riaz, a major in the Pakistan Army, and her husband Mohsin Riaz, who is a doctor by profession. The house is located in Wilayat Colony, Scheme III, Chaklala.
The girl, who managed to escape the house, accused her employers of starving her and torturing her with wires, belts and ropes for over a year. She further said she was kicked and stomped on while she slept.
When asked by the videographer to describe how she has been mistreated, she explained that she was not fed properly by the family she lived with, and when she stole food out of hunger, she was administered inhumane beatings.
In the video, Kinza showed injuries that she had sustained, including her bloodshot, black eyes as well as multiple wound marks on her arms, neck and head.
Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari took notice of the case on Saturday and said the ministry was “keeping a close eye [on the matter] to ensure justice for the little girl”.
