Housemaid torture case: Court rejects bail plea of judge’s wife

Islamabad: A local court rejected bail petition, of civil judge’s wife Somia Asim in housemaid Rizwana torture case on Thursday.

After hearing the lawyers, judicial magistrate Shaista Kundi announced her judgement.

In court, the child's lawyer Qazi Dastagir claimed that she was unemployed. Judge: "If she wasn't a servant, why was she kept at the house?" Defense counsel stated, "She was brought for teaching and wellbeing. If she would be admitted at the school, the judge enquired. She is 16 years old, thus she cannot enroll in school, the attorney said. "A Quran teacher and a tutor were teaching her at home," the defense lawyer claimed.

 “The judge’s family was being blackmailed for money,” lawyer said. “A woman Zunaira, from the US was also sending money for the girl,” he added.

Prosecutor told the court that the girl’s both arms and legs were injured, and a tooth was broken. Her ribs were broken and there are injuries on hind side of the girl’s head,” the lawyer said.

“The petitioner didn’t call the police but the 15 received phone call from Sargodha hospital,” the prosecutor further said.

“Rizwana have 17 wounds on her body, owing to these injuries the girl was referred from Sargodha to Lahore,” lawyer said. “According to x-rays, her arms’ bones were fractured,” he further said.

DPO Sargodha had written a letter to Islamabad Police as the crime location was in Islamabad, government lawyer said. “There are some photos on record that show how the child was subjected to torture,” the counsel said.

“The girl was carried in arms to the bus. The bus driver in his statement said that the child was carried in arms in bus,” prosecutor said.

“They said the girl was brought to the home to teach her, but tutor has stated, he didn’t teach Rizwana,” Prosecutor Waqas said while opposing bail petition of accused Soumia Asim. “There is substantial evidence on record against the accused,” he added.

Earlier, The Islamabad District and Sessions Court rejected the plea for a physical remand of Somia Asim and sent her to jail on judicial remand. 

The administrative officer of the Islamabad Judicial Complex and his wife, Somia Asim, are accused of torturing teenage domestic servant Rizwana. The matter was being heard in court.

The prosecution’s request for physical remand of Somia Asim was rejected, and the court announced its reserved verdict on her physical remand application.

The court sent Somia Asim to jail on judicial remand. It also directed the police to produce the suspect again on August 22.

Earlier, during the hearing, Somia said in the court that because of her awful media trial, she wanted to die by suicide.“I have no such role in this case as is being presented,” she claimed.

Somia’s lawyer asked the court to forbid the media from making videos of the suspect. The court also allowed Somia to meet her family members for 10 minutes.

Judge Shaista Kundi remarked that the law allows physical remand of a woman suspect only in two cases: attempted murder and murder.