Judge’s wife arrested for torturing her teen housemaid

Soumia Asim, the wife of a civil judge, accused of torturing her teenage housemaid, was arrested on Monday after the district and sessions court in Islamabad cancelled her bail, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

She was arrested from the court premises.

The bail application of the accused in the Rizwana torture case was heard in the District and Sessions Court, Islamabad on Monday.

The accused appeared before Duty Judge Additional Sessions Judge Farrukh Fareed Baloch while the police also presented the record of the case before the court.

During the hearing, the victim's mother also appeared in court along with the lawyer.

The lawyer of the accused told the court that Soumia Asim appeared before the JIT. He said he put the objection before the court this morning asking for the report of the JIT. The entire case has been presented before the JIT, the lawyer said adding that he also saw the police record in which the police only wrote that his client, Soumia, did not commit the violence.

The lawyer said that his client repeatedly told Rizwana’s family to take the girl back. “We also have video evidence. The girl stayed there at the bus stand, drank juice there, sat there, and was fine. This evidence was not placed on record by the investigating officer,” the lawyer argued.

The judge remarked that whatever evidence he had in his defence, he could bring forward in the investigation.

The court then inquired from the police whether the statement of the accused was written on the record. On which, the written statement of the accused was presented before the court.

While giving arguments, the lawyer of the accused further told the court ‘you see in the video, the girl was looking fine, nothing like what was written in the FIR. The girl waited for the bus at the base for 3 hours'.

The judge inquired when the girl went back to her house, and when was the medical done?

The lawyer said that the girl went back on July 23 and her medical was done on July 24. The FIR was registered on July 25. For three hours, the girl was fine, there was no problem with her head. “This girl stayed with my client, she also went home during this time. I have read 70% of the FIR, there is no evidence here. We have also taken a video of Mianji Hotel where there is another character,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer argued that where the girl's mother started mourning, this story started from there. In our case, it happened that media trial started before the court trial, and we are facing a media trial.

Then the lawyer requested the court to summon court record and he would give arguments tomorrow.

When the arguments of the lawyer of the accused were completed, the prosecutor started his arguments and told the court that they we were not made a part of the investigation, although the accused herself told that her statement was recorded. Instructions cannot be given to the investigating officer to investigate in this way and not in this way. Regarding intelligence agencies not being part of the investigation, they can go to the relevant forum, he added.

The prosecutor said that the video they had showed was fake. In the video, they themselves are saying that it is happening and that it is not happening, he added.

The court directed to present the relevant evidence, to which the plaintiff's lawyer said that they had not challenged the medico-legal report till date. No parent can be so cruel to perpetrate such violence on their child, he argued.

After hearing the arguments of the parties, the court rejected the bail of accused Soumia Asim, wife of the judge. After which the police present outside the court tarrested the accused.

Yesterday, Soumia Asim joined the police investigation and denied committing the crime.  “The girl was not subjected to torture, she had skin allergy,” the woman claimed in her statement. “We don’t know, how she got head injury,” she stated.

 

Reporter Tayyab Saif