IHC judge to conduct another inquiry into Tayyaba torture case

ISLAMABAD: Another departmental inquiry will be carried out against Additional Sessions Judge Raja Khurram Ali Khan, who has been nominated in child maid Tayyaba torture case and made an officer on special duty (OSD), Geo News reported.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is the inquiry officer in the case.

The inquiry commission will summon Raja Khurram for questioning over hiring a 10-year-old as domestic help.

Prior to this, a confidential inquiry was carried out against Raja Khurram over the directives of IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi. A report of the inquiry was sent to the chief justice in a sealed envelope, but it has not been brought to the fore yet.  

The case of alleged torture of Tayyaba caught the media's attention after she was rescued from the residence of Raja Khurram earlier in January.

The 10-year-old, whose face and hands bore torture marks, had initially denied being hurt by her employers. She had told the police she got a wound to her eye after falling from the stairs, while her hand was also burnt accidentally.

However, the girl narrated her ordeal after being politely questioned by a female magistrate later. She said before the magistrate she was beaten and her hand was burnt on the stove for losing the broom.

The chief justice took suo moto notice of the case, however the child and her father mysteriously disappeared after that. After the Supreme Court ordered the child be produced in court, police sprung to action. Tayyaba was rescued from the suburbs of Islamabad.

A man claiming to be Tayyaba’s father, Azam, told the Supreme Court Raja Khurram had asked him to stamp his fingerprint on a paper if he wanted to get back his daughter. “I cannot read or write. I did not know what was written on the paper,” Azam had said.

Raja Khurram and his wife have denied torturing Tayyaba.