Sir: I would like to draw the authorities’ attention towards the increasingly common practice of employing underage housemaids in our country. Nothing is more shameful than forcing children to work as domestic labour. Yet, according to a recent report, 27 percent of the child labour in Pakistan is employed as domestic labour. Most of these children are treated very poorly. Often they are hardly treated better than animals, being forced to work from dawn until dusk and given very meagre nutrition. Sadly, everybody is silent. The government must take immediate action, and people who hire child labour must be awarded harsh punishment. SOODA M AKRAM Kech Published in Daily Times, May 29th 2018.