Savagery behind doors

What can one even say about adults who beat and torture a child for a minor offence, which could have been carried out by anyone through accident, whether they were an adult or a young child. Despite new laws, children who are well below the accepted age continue to be employed in households. They often meet a terrible fate, apart from the fact that employers pay them very little as wages, making them toil sometimes almost around the clock. In Faisalabad, a 13-year old girl was beaten on her arms and legs and left badly injured by her employer a former nazim on a council in the area, and his wife before being thrown out on the street. The weeping child in a poor condition, as far as information on her body was concerned, was seen by someone and handed over to the police, who then called in the Child Protection Bureau. It transpired that her stepfather had given her in to work for the salary of Rs5000. She was forced to work long hours and fed on leftovers from the family meals. The Child Protection Bureau has insisted on registering a case, despite attempts to bribe her mother into accepting payment from the employers.

This is not the first case of its kind. Just days ago, another maid was beaten in Faisalabad and the child left in a terrible condition by her employers. In Rawalpindi a 10-year-old girl who suffered congenital deformity of a foot was also tortured by her employers until a neighbouring guard called in police after hearing screams from the house. We need to question what kind of society we have become. What civilized group of people torture young children and force them to labour under conditions that are obviously inhumane. In many cases, these employers have children of around the same age themselves.

We have all seen these little maids go about their chores within houses and outside when they come out with their employers or the children of the house, who of course live totally different lives in totally different circumstances. It is time we step forward beyond the law and take action. It is a welcome sign that more people in society are reporting cases and speaking out about the torture of a child in a neighbouring house. This may be one sign of some change in society. But at the same time, other laws have to be toughened up and the Child Protection Bureau brought in more often so that it can try and protect the children as it has done in several cases, saving them from further harm. What goes on behind the closed doors of our homes needs to come out in the public.