Save the children

According to news reports, a domestic servant named Kamran, aged 11, was cruelly beaten to death by his employers in DHA Lahore. The boy’s seven-year-old brother, Rizwan, was also beaten and injured. Punjab CM Hamza Shehbaz has taken notice of the heinous act and ordered the Punjab police to take action against the accused. Worryingly, incidents like this are far from uncommon in Pakistan, which ranks among the most dangerous countries in the world for minors. According to local children’s rights NGO Sahil, around 1500 minors were physically or sexually abused across Pakistan in the first half of 2020 alone. Aside from the issue of child physical or sexual abuse, we must also take notice of the fact that many minors from the lower socioeconomic classes are employed illegally as labourers and domestic servants across Pakistan, exposing them to greater risk of injury and abuse. The government must ensure that the rights of all our children are protected, regardless of class, and crack down on the illegal employment of children.

Bakhtiyar Phullan

Turbat