January 30, 2026
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
The brutal torture of a 13-year-old girl in Lahore has once again exposed the grave dangers faced by children who work inside households and persistent failure of State institutions to protect them.
The child Zarnab, alias Noor, daughter of Shariya Bibi belongs to a Christian family from Kasur. She is a resident of Choti Kalan, District Kasur, and was sent seven months ago through an agent to work as a domestic help at the residence of Bao Tariq Gujjar and his wife, Namal Bibi, in Johar Town, Lahore, for a monthly wage of Rs15,000.
Incident details
On 23 January 2026, Zarnab returned home in a state of extreme physical and psychological trauma. Her head had been forcibly shaved, and her body bore clear signs of prolonged and severe torture.
According Zarnab, she was repeatedly beaten by a plastic pipe, unlawfully confined, humiliated, and deliberately isolated from her family and also tortured because of her faith.
She stated that her employers routinely subjected her to violence for minor issues and treated her in a degrading and dehumanizing manner.
Speaking to Voicepk, Zarnab said that she was repeatedly beaten by plastic pipe by both the husband and wife for trivial issues.
“I was beaten by both of them,” she said tearfully while speaking to Voicepk. “They would get extremely angry over small things. If i slept a little late they would be verbally and physically violent with me. Sometimes if something slipped from my hand and broke they would beat me badly because of that. The mistakes were not that big but they would punish me terribly.”
She added that she was not even allowed to see her parents.
“I was not allowed to go home for Christmas or any other important occasion,” she said. “I had to work during those days too. If my parents came to see me, they would make an excuse and tell them she is sleeping, and send my family away. Often they would lock me inside the bathroom as a punishment.”
It was also a norm for the couple to verbally abuse the child, calling her derogatory religious slurs, including words like “chuhri“, an infidel and calling her inept.
Once after enduring abuse at the couple’s Johar Town residence, Zarnab says she was taken to another location in Gawalmandi, where she was kept with her hands and feet tied. During this, Namal Bibi allegedly threatened her life, shouting that she should be killed and thrown into a sewer.
“I was always kept under lock and key, but the only way I managed to leave was when they themselves threw me out of the house,” said Zarnab. “I was told I was unable to work and they had shaved my head as punishment. I was shoved outside the main gate and I sat there for a long time crying. I begged and pleaded for them to take me back but they wouldn’t. A kind rickshaw driver helped me reach my parents in Kasur. I had to ask my way to get there.”
Zarnab says her home had collapsed and so the living arrangements had been difficult for her family.
NGO takes up case
Minority rights activist Joseph Janssen founder of Voice of Minorities, says that he has taken up the case and is actively supporting the victim and her family. Condemning the attack, Janssen said that not only was this an act of extreme cruelty on a child, a criminal act of employing a child, but also a clear case of attacking the girl’s faith. He emphasized that the way the girl had been abused because of her faith pointed to the broader pattern of violence faced by Christians in Pakistan. “Delay or failure by law enforcement authorities to act decisively would further entrench impunity and undermine justice,” he said.
Janssen also said that the family had been receiving threats and pressure and therefore had not filed any case with the police.
“I have been told by the family that they are being pressured by the police into reconciling with the perpetrators, and that they should not pursue legal recourse,” he said to Voicepk.
After meeting the victim and reviewing her account, Janssen also confirmed that Bao Tariq Gujjar and his wife, Namal Bibi, subjected Zarnab to repeated physical abuse, including beating her with plastic pipes, kicking her, and slapping her across the face. He stated that the child was locked inside a toilet for hours as punishment for minor household issues and was deliberately isolated from her family, including being denied the right to return home even during Christmas.
In light of the family’s vulnerability and fear of retaliation, Janssen says he has facilitated immediate support and protection for the family, including arranging safe shelter and assisting them in accessing legal and humanitarian aid. He has committed to standing with the family throughout the legal process and to pursuing accountability through all available legal and advocacy channels.
Zarnab’s father, Thomas, said that due to extreme poverty he had been unable to provide education for his children and had himself faced discrimination at his workplace. He said he sent his daughter to work only to help the family survive financially. He described the first month of her employment as seemingly normal but said the abuse had apparently begun afterward. He expressed deep shock and heartbreak upon seeing his daughter return home in such a horrific condition. He also stated that the accused were influential individuals and alleged that money had been given to the police, resulting in a lack of action. Out of fear, he said he felt unable to pursue legal action.
Janssen said that the Government must become a party to this case, prosecute the culprits and bring justice to the child.
Illegal employment
Child rights activist Iftikhar Mubarik said the incident was a clear and extreme case of child exploitation and violence against a minor in domestic labour.
He noted that the 13-year-old child was illegally employed in contravention of Section 3 of the Punjab Domestic Workers Act, 2019, which explicitly prohibits the employment of children as domestic workers, and was subjected to prolonged physical and psychological abuse, unlawfully confined, and ultimately discarded once she could no longer endure the violence.
He said the perpetrators must be prosecuted and punished in full accordance with the law, adding that the case exposes the brutal reality of child domestic labour, where children remain invisible, unmonitored, and entirely at the mercy of employers inside private homes.
According to him, it reflects systemic failures in enforcing child labour laws and regulating domestic work. Mubarik stressed the urgent need to establish strong, child-focused social protection mechanisms for families living in extreme poverty so that economic desperation does not push children into domestic labour. He emphasised that children belonged in school, not in private households, and that the government has a constitutional obligation to guarantee their fundamental right to education. Ending child domestic labour, he said, requires coordinated multisectoral action and sustained investment in prevention, protection, and access to schooling.
Civil society organizations and human rights advocates across the board have demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of the accused under relevant provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code, including sections related to criminal intimidation, wrongful confinement, causing hurt, and cruelty to a child. These laws prescribe strict punishment, reflecting the extreme severity of the crimes committed.
The case has exposed a violation of Pakistan’s international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other human rights treaties.