HARIPUR, Jan 5: An 11-year-old maid was subjected to severe physical torture by her employers and admitted to hospital here on Wednesday.

The victim was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital with cuts and bruises on her neck, arms, legs, abdomen and other parts of the body.

Nazia, daughter of Mumtaz, of village Phoee Gar Hattar, told reporters from her hospital bed that she was hired by Ishfaq and his wife Kosar for looking after their baby and other household chores some six months back for Rs 1000 a month. Ms Kosar is a school teacher in the Labour Colony Haripur.

The couple, she said, used to beat her for minor mistakes. "They often beat me with iron rods particularly when their baby used to cry," she said, adding that last time they beat her after fastening with a rope and hit her legs and other parts with iron rods.

Nazia said that Ms Kosar who often subjected her students to severe corporal punishment, fastened her with a rope and sedated her putting something in her mouth. "When I regained consciousness I was at the home of Ms Kosar's mother in Peshawar and bleeding with cuts on the sides of my abdomen and other parts," she added. She said that the couple had also shaved her head.

"It seems that they had removed something from my body and kept me in Peshawar for over 30 days and when my injuries started healing they brought me back home and handed me over to my mother."

To a question, Nazia said that she was not even allowed to see her mother or go home since her coming to their home and was often not given enough food and when she wanted food the couple would use abusive language and torture her. The girl, who was looking frail and exhausted, was unable to stand and was complaining of severe pain in her abdomen and spinal cord.

Her mother, Shaheen, told the newsmen that Nazia was studying in grade four at a village school when given in employment of Ms Kosar who had promised to put her in the school she was teaching in. "Since I was unable to feed seven children and make them study as their father was jobless for the last seven years, I deemed it better to give her to Ms Kosar, but now I think I committed a blunder and got my daughter physically spoiled," she told the reporters with tears rolling down her cheeks.

She said that she was a poor woman and was unable to bear the expenses of treatment of her daughter. She said that the accused party was also using pressure tactics to make them withdraw their application, which they had filed with the police.

The girl's father Mumtaz had lodged an application with the police post at the Telephone Industries of Pakistan from where the girl was shifted to DHQ Hospital, Haripur.

The doctor on duty confirmed the torture on the girl and in her initial report stated that left leg up to the ankle and left arm were found swollen, old healed scars measuring one and two inches in length, respectively, on both sides of the abdomen.

Meanwhile, the MMA district leadership visited and inquired about the health of Nazia and criticized the incident demanding punishment of the culprits. When contacted the city police claimed to have arrested Ishfaq while the arrest of his wife was not yet made.

However, human rights bodies, including Women Voice Haripur and Rural Development Project, have condemned the incident and offered the victim's family every assistance. They also condemned the incident and demanded severe action against the accused.