Pakistan: Influential saint arrested for 10-year-old maid's torture, murder

A member of an influential group of Pirs in Pakistan has been arrested for allegedly torturing and killing his 10-year-old domestic help, The News reported Thursday. The horrific incident came to light after a video of victim Fatima Furiro's body bearing severe torture marks surfaced on social media. In the video, the seriously injured girl is seen struggling to sit up on her bed but soon collapses, the report said.

Asad Shah Jeelani is a member of the Pirs of Ranipur in Pakistan's Sindh province. He was arrested after his domestic help, Fatima, was found dead at his home in Ranipur. Fatima was assigned to work at Asad's haveli, where she was found dead. Her family is believed to be followers of the Pir of Ranipur.

"My daughter was subjected to the worst form of torture for many days by the Pirs of Ranipur and died due to multiple injuries," her mother Shabana was quoted as saying by Geo News. Based on the mother's complaint, the police filed a case and arrested Jeelani.

Dawn reported that Fatima was employed as a domestic maid at a haveli owned by Jeelani. After her death, Jeelani reportedly informed the girl's mother of her death and advised her to remove the body from the premises. Fatima's mother stated that they brought her daughter's body from the haveli, where she claimed two of her other daughters were also working.

The girl's father Nadeem Ali Phariro had initially claimed that the girl had some stomach-related ailment and she died in her house after having been discharged from hospital. However, when the video emerged, the police swung into action and took Jeelani into custody.

A senior cop official said that the parents didn't share the facts initially with police and buried their daughter on August 15. He said the girl was taken to a local hospital by the pir or his staff, where doctors said she was suffering from gastroenteritis. "The SHO was present in the hospital when she was pronounced dead," the cop was quoted as saying by Dawn.

After the videos went viral, the police took notice of the matter and a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer met the girl's parents. Following his meeting with social activists and going through the videos, the officer reported to the DIG that the matter was serious and demanded the exhumation of the body. "The parents were told that if they didn't disclose facts, police will take action on their own, will go for exhumation and lodge a case," DIG Sukkur Javed Jiskani said.

Jiskani further said that a team had been formed to investigate the matter and conduct an exhumation of the body to verify the allegations of torture. "We have applied for the exhumation of the body for post-mortem, as the girl has been buried by [her] parents, apparently out of fear," DIG Jiskani told Dawn.