Lahore, Pakistan, Jan 27, 2010 / 15:51 pm
On Jan. 25, thousands of people in Pakistan attended the funeral of a 12-year-old Catholic girl who was allegedly raped and killed by her Muslim employer.
According to advocacy group Minorities Concern of Pakistan, Shazia Bashir, a house maid from Lahore, was killed by her employer, Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem, a prominent lawyer and former president of the Lahore Bar Association on Jan. 22. Shazia Bashir had been working as a domestic laborer for Naeem for 8 months and was reportedly the only source of income for her impoverished family.
The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), a human rights department of the Catholic Church in Pakistan, has condemned the recent murder. In a joint statement issued on Monday Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha and Peter Jacob, NCJP Chairman and Executive Secretary respectively, spoke out against the killing and lamented that this incident is not isolated as domestic servants are often subject to extreme violence.
Although child labor is illegal in Pakistan there are more than 10 million employed children in the country. According to Fides news agency, Shazia worked for 1,000 rupees per month (about $12) to provide for her parents, two married sisters and 8 year-old brother. Though Shazia's parents had asked to see her multiple times, they were denied visitation. Fides said that by the time they were eventually able to visit she was already in serious condition. When Shazia was taken to Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, medical personnel allegedly discovered evidence of torture and rape. Shazia later died at the hospital.