How many more poor working children must die in Pakistan before the change comes?
The death of Fatima Furiro, 10 years old, would have occurred sadly but silently if it had not been for the two explicit videos that appeared on social networks. The girl's body was exhumed this week for a post-mortem examination, days after the videos mysteriously appeared online.
One appeared to show signs of torture on Fatima's body, while the other showed her writhing in pain and struggling to sit up before collapsing.
Her parents were immediately pressured to file a formal complaint and the Khairpur district police in Sindh province arrested her employer, Asad Ali Shah Jelani, over the girl's death. Jelani, who is a pir, an influential spiritual leader of a Sufi sect, has denied any wrongdoing.
Shabnam Furiro, mourning her daughter, said sending her three daughters to work in Jelani’s house would be a lifelong regret.
Fatima is not the first girl to die allegedly at the hands of her employers; it is also unlikely to be the last.
POVERTY PUSHES MANY PARENTS TO LOOK AT THE PHYSICAL VIOLENCE THEIR CHILDREN FACE.
Earlier this year, an 11-year-old boy was murdered by his employer in Karachi; Last year in Lahore, an 11-year-old boy, Kamran, succumbed to his injuries after he and his seven-year-old brother were brutally beaten by their employer for stealing food from a refrigerator; In 2020, eight-year-old Zohra Shah died from injuries inflicted after freeing her employers' prized bird from a cage; and in 2019, 16-year-old Uzma Bibi was tortured and killed for taking a small piece of meat.
Whenever such deaths occur, people in Pakistan go into a collective frenzy of revenge. This is followed by expressions of outrage and fear from lawmakers and celebrities, and then the alleged perpetrators are arrested. But as soon as anger erupts, it subsides.
Fatima's death has also been a wake-up call for the people of Ali Mohammad Furiro, who are in shock. Families bring their daughters home and promise never to send them to the homes of the rich.
Koondhar said the tradition in Sindh of “gifting” young daughters to their pirs to serve for a few years is based on ignorance among those who worship these rich spiritual leaders.
Shabnam insisted she had no idea her daughter was beaten regularly. He did not even speak when he saw the torture marks on his daughter's body and said he thought she had died of a stomach illness.
It is difficult to imagine that parents are not aware of the risks they run when they subject their children to domestic servitude,
Although it is illegal in most provinces of Pakistan for children under 14 to work, and in some provinces for children under 18 to work in hazardous occupations, the Pakistan Child Rights Protection Society estimates that 12 million children are working in the country.
While Punjab may be the only province that has banned children from working in private homes (although this remains unpunished), Iqbal Detho, chairman of the Sindh Human Rights Commission, has taken up the case of Fatima's death and found many gaps. In judicial protection, in the complaint filed by the parents. He said the incident could be investigated for violations of child protection and bonded labor laws.
At the same time, there is a need to address inconsistencies within the country's constitution and penal code regarding the legal age of child labor.
However, the most urgent need is for Pakistani society to realize that it is not doing a “good deed” by hiring children from poor families.
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