Abuse of domestic child labour

EDITORIAL: Her family had sent her all the way from Kot Addu in southern Punjab to Rawalpindi to look after a baby in return for education and a decent living. Instead eight-year-old Zohra was brutally beaten to death for letting her employers' pet parrots fly away. The girl was brought to hospital while unconscious but still alive. According to police report, she had injuries on her face, hands, below her rib cage and legs. She also had wounds on her thighs, which suggested she may have been subjected to sexual assault as well. The accused couple has since been in police custody undergoing investigations. It is hard to imagine how anyone could treat a child so heartlessly.

Sadly, however, incidents involving physical abuse of underage domestic workers are quite common in this country particularly in its Punjab province. They come to light only when the child either dies or catches media attention. A couple of years ago, 10-year-old Tayyaba, who worked as domestic help for a district and sessions judge, nearly died after the then judge and his wife subjected her to severe beating and illegal confinement merely because a broom had gone missing. That being a highly publicized case, the couple was sentenced to three years in prison - later reduced to one year - and Rs 500,000 fine each. Still, stories of violence against underage domestic workers keep surfacing every now and then. There is the horrific example of Uzma who died in Lahore in February last year after she was brutally beaten for taking a bite out of the plate of her employers' daughter.

Child labour is a major problem in this country. According to a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan report, an estimated 12 million children work in different fields, including hazardous occupations barred by law. Worst off are domestic servants, especially minor girls, as they are more vulnerable to physical abuse. There is no way poor people can be dissuaded from sending their small children to work and supplement family incomes. It is imperative therefore that the government provide them with necessary protections. Commendably for her, Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari is taking serious interest in the present case as well as the wider issue. She has been monitoring police investigations. Also, she said in a Twitter post that her ministry has proposed declaring domestic child labour hazardous under the Employment of Children Act, 1991. That would be an important step forward but its implementation not so easy as long as other things - poverty and illiteracy levels - remain the same. Considering that people can hire help for as little as Rs 3,000 - in Zohra's case - to Rs 10,000 and poverty-stricken parents are willing to accept that, underage domestic labour is not stoppable for the foreseeable future. In any event, the government should consider making it mandatory for all employers to register any new hire with the local police stations. That way, neighbours or others can call the police to protect defenceless abused child servants.