PESHAWAR, June 14: Most of the destitute and orphaned children are victims of domestic violence which has shattered their personality hand has resulted in their ending up in orphanages.

There are almost 40 children aged between two to 11 years of age who have taken shelter in in the Daar-ul-Atfaal, situated within the premises of Daar-ul-Aman, run by All Pakistan Women Association (Apwa).

Seema, 9, had nowhere else to go along with her three younger brothers and sisters when her uncle killed both her parents just because the uncle wanted her parents to give him money for his expenses.

"My parents were poor, my father had no money to give to my uncle and once when my uncle got angry and started beating my mother, my father couldn't take it any more and started quarrelling with him," Seema said. At night time when Seema's father was sleeping he was killed by his brother, and after a few days Seema's mother was also found strangulated in a room.

"We had no where else to go and we were not safe at home because people said that my uncle had killed my parents our old grandmother brought us to this orphanage," said Seema, who is living in the orphanage for the last two years with her three siblings.

Reema, 5, belonged to a poor family of Swat district. Her father was an addict who used to beat her mother and finally killed her when she refused to give him money. The four children are now in the orphanage in Peshawar.

Malaala, 11, an Afghan girl also narrated a similar story. Her addict father used to beat her mother, Kalima Jana and her. Her mother ran away from home leaving her behind.

Malaala also decided to run away from home and took shelter in the orphanage because her uncle wanted to sell her, to get some money to purchase a bride for himself with that money.

Malaala is in the orphanage for the last 18 months and is desperate to meet her mother who is now living with her maternal uncle in Rawalpindi. Kalsoom, 6, also lost her parents. Her father was a mentally-sick man and the uncles wanted the property.

Kalsoom's mother left home with her children for their safety and brought them to the orphanage, she used to work and earn for them. "She used to visit us here. She thought we were safe here but it has been sometime that she has not come to see us for almost a month.

A villager informed us that she was killed by our uncles a few days ago," little Kalsoom said. The ministry for Law and Human Rights has opened up a cell for the counselling of such homeless orphans who had gone through trauma in their early lives.

"Usually such children, especially boys, are very aggressive but the girls' behaviour is introverted. Their confidence is shattered. Such children also suffer from an inferiority complex," Ms Sabina, a child counsellor at the orphanage said.

She added that those children who lose their parents and become the victims of violence adopt anti-social behaviour and their self-image becomes distorted due to the traumatic life history.

Ms Sabina said that domestic violence caused by the parents or other relatives often causes the children to run away from their homes.

According to her, the aggression in these children need to be overcome at the early stage. She said that these children could grow up as hardcore criminals and terrorists if they were not given attention.