KARACHI: Police on Wednesday arrested husband and wife for allegedly brutally torturing their underage housemaid in Defense Housing Authority (DHA), a posh area of city, after lodging FIR against them on written compliant of the maid. Police team of Darakshan police station raided a house situated in Muslim Commercial area in DHA and arrested an estate agent, Abdul Razzaq and his wife Eram. SI Rana Ajmal of PS Darakhshan told Daily Times that fifteen years old girl came to the police station with her parents and filed written complaint stating that she, the resident of Qayoumabad an adjacent colony of DHA, was working in a flat in Muslim Commercial area as housemaid where she was subjected to brutal torture by the employer and his wife on Tuesday. She stated that the employer Abul Razzaq and his wife Eram burnt her with hot iron and peeled her skin with knife. According to Rana Ajmal after the written statement of the victim and initial medical report police has lodged FIR No. 472/2017 and booked both husband and wife. The girl told the police that she was tortured and burned with hot iron. “I begged cried for mercy but they did not show any pity and continued to torture me for a long time and kept laughing while I was crying”, the victim told the investigators. The girl’s father alleged that her daughter was raped. “They have sexually assaulted my daughter”, he said adding that when he reached Jinnah Hospital there was no female Medico Legal Officer and they suggested us to move the victim to Civil Hospital. “The girl’s father approached us for lodging FIR”, Darakshan SHO Aurangzeb Khattab said. “Thanks God, the family timely informed us and the police while taking timely action apprehended the suspects”, SHO added. The SHO said that the police have arrested five members of a family including two women and registered a case against them on behalf of victim’s father, namely Muhammad Rafiq. He said that the police was investigating the case about to ascertain the actual motive behind the incident as what the arrested suspects are trying to defend themselves. According to Madadgaar National Helpline 1098 and National Commissioner for Children 901 cases of mental torture, 374 cases of physical abuse, 135 cases of children marriage, 89 cases of cyber-crime,202 cases of missing women, 14 cases of trafficking, 25 cases of attempted murder, 8 cases of burnings, 37 cases of rape, 6 cases of sodomy, 25 cases of illegal confinement, 1,848 cases of missing children, 236 cases of kidnapping, 1,556 cases of domestic violence, 15 cases of Karo-Kari and 513 cases of harassment were among the total reports received by the helpline during the last one year. Published in Daily Times, September 14th 2017.