LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday granted protective bail to Soumia Asim, the wife of a civil judge who has been accused of torturing her teenage domestic help. Justice Farooq Haider approved her request for anticipatory bail until August 1, directing authorities not to arrest her during this period.
The case came to light earlier this week when a 14-year-old girl, working as a domestic help in the judge’s house, was found with severe injuries and was taken to a hospital in Lahore. The victim’s family alleged that the judge’s wife, Soumia, had subjected their child to brutal torture.
The case was registered at Police Station Humak based on the complaint of the girl’s father, Manga Khan, under sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Following the registration of the case, Soumia Asim expressed her willingness to cooperate with the investigation into the allegations. Meanwhile, the victim’s medical report revealed 15 serious wounds all over her body, particularly on her head and face. The report also stated that she had been denied treatment for seven months, which exacerbated her injuries.
Although the victim was later shifted to Lahore from Sargodha for proper treatment, the doctors were not optimistic about her condition.
Despite the police conducting raids at possible hideouts in Lahore and Gujranwala, they failed to apprehend Soumia Asim.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant had sent his daughter to work as a domestic help at the judge’s house seven months ago with a monthly salary of Rs10,000, based on a reference from an acquaintance named Chaudhry Mukhtar. The girl’s parents learned about the torture she was enduring when they went to visit her on July 23.
Upon entering the judge’s house, they heard their daughter crying, and upon reaching her room, they discovered her in a wounded condition. The complainant stated in the FIR that his daughter had been severely tortured by the judge’s wife, with torture marks found all over her body.
The injuries included swelling on her lips and eyes, broken teeth, ribs, and strangling marks on her neck, with her head wounds infested with maggots.
The complainant accused Soumia of torturing and illegally confining his daughter since the day she started working at the judge’s house and demanded action against her for the alleged crimes.
