A Pakistani couple is being held after police say they murdered their 13-year-old maid after accusing her of stealing a box of chocolate.
"I felt completely shattered inside when she died," the girl's father, Sana Ullah, told the BBC.
The girl, known as Iqra, began working as a maid when she as 8-years-old because her father, a farmer, was in debt, the BBC reported. Police in Pakistan said the girl was accused of stealing the chocolate and appeared to have been tortured, the network reported.
The incident has sparked an outcry across Pakistan over the use and treatment of young children as domestic workers.
"My heart cries tears of blood. How many... are subjected to violence in their homes every day for a trivial job of a few thousand?" activist Shehr Bano wrote on X. "How long will the poor continue to lower their daughters into graves in this way?"
The BBC reported that Rashid Shafiq and his wife Sana, are being held in relation to Iqra's death. Authorities also have detained a Quran teacher, ho worked for them. According to the BBC, it was the teacher who dropped Iqra at the hospital and left. The teacher allegedly told staff that the girl's father was dead and the mother was not around.
According to UNICEF, there about 3.3 million child laborers in Pakistan. "Children in Pakistan are vulnerable to many forms of violence (physical, psychological, sexual) and exploitation, including economic exploitation and child trafficking," UNICEF stated on its website.
My heart is crying tears of blood. How many Iqra, how many Fatima are tortured at home every day for a few thousand rupees. How has this state become so indifferent? How long will the poor continue to bury their children in the graves and the rich will continue to cry?#JusticeForIqra pic.twitter.com/4BARNitafS
— Shehr Bano Official (@OfficialShehr) February 12, 2025
