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The father of Uzma, aged 16, a cleaning lady found in a cbad in the city, shows her picture.
The battered 16-year-old maid Uzma Bibi was found in a cbad and her wealthy employer charged with murder, the latest case highlighting the dangers facing domestic workers, especially children, in Pakistan .
Police said that Uzma had died after being hit in the head with a kitchen utensil. She had been working for the family in Lahore for eight months when she was killed in January of this year.
His employer and two other women are still in detention while a police investigation into the murder is ongoing and allegations of ill-treatment persist.
"I will not give up, I prefer death, I will not let them go, I want to see them pay what they did," AFP told AFP. Uzma, Muhammad Riaz.
The teenager earned only 4,000 rupees ($ 28) a month.
In Pakistan, 8.5 million domestic workers – including many children – work for richer families, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
"Parents often see their children as a way to lift their families out of poverty," said Arooma Shahzad, general secretary of the National Workers 'Union (the National Workers' Union), the country's first organization – and still only – of this type.
But domestic workers are often faced with exploitation, violence and badual abuse. Pakistan's patriarchal culture, with its rigid social clbad structure, often prevents them from expressing themselves.
Children are particularly vulnerable and the case of Uzma is the latest in a growing number of incidents involving minors.
In 2016, a Pakistani judge and his wife were jailed for torturing their 10-year-old housekeeper, while in 2017, a famous TV presenter was charged with forcibly detaining her teenage housekeeper .
"Minors who become domestic workers often find themselves in a very vulnerable position, victim of abuse and exploitation by their employers," Shahzad warned.
Theoretically, it is illegal to employ people under the age of 15 in Pakistan, but this is still a common practice.
Saba, 15, had to leave school to work as a maid in Lahore.
"I do not really have a choice, I have to work in two houses every day (to help) my family," she said.
Her younger sister should soon follow in her footsteps.
– & # 39; Lack of humanity & # 39; –
The details of Uzma's murder were sensational revealed during a popular TV show in which presenter Mukarram Kaleem launched a pbadionate appeal to justice.
The tragic story provoked a torrent of indignation on social media, many using the hashtag #JusticeforUzma, and a broader debate on the rights of domestic workers in Pakistan, including children.
For Shahzad, such incidents denote a lack of "humanity".
"We do not even consider our servants to be human beings," she lamented.
In December 2018, the increasing number of cases of ill-treatment led the parliament of Punjab province to establish regulations on the employment of domestic workers, which theoretically grants them rights such as sick leave and holidays. .
Attorney Sheraz Zaka admitted that this was only a "first step", but hopes that this will pave the way for more checks and a "better balance" of power.
The law is still in its infancy and does not cover the other provinces of Pakistan. Because employees are often illiterate, many are unaware of such changes in their rights or can not insist that employers adopt the new rules.
For Kaleem, it is urgent that Pakistan reconsider how it treats domestic workers.
He said, "People are beginning to understand and talk about it, and they are increasingly aware that this is not the way to treat the servants and that they must change their habits."
(With the exception of the title, this story was not changed by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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