Former MNA chains minor maid over family debt

Police on Friday arrested former member of the National Assembly, Liaqat Abbas Bhatti for torturing and imprisoning his 14-year-old housemaid.
The Johar Town Police raided the residence of the former MNA and rescued Shahida, who had been put in chains and locked in a room on the second floor of the house. The girl’s family had informed police that Bhatti was keeping Shahida as his prisoner for the last six months.
The former lawmaker’s wife unlocked the fetters on police’s orders. Shahida shocked the raiding team by revealing that her younger brother was also imprisoned in the other room. The boy was also found chained. Shahida said that her father had taken a Rs 0.4 million loan from the former MNA to get her older brother released from prison. When the family expressed their helplessness to repay the money, Bhatti imprisoned the girl in his house. “I was brought here six months ago. My parents said that they would not come and take me back,” Shahida told reporters.
In his defence, Bhatti said that Shahida’s father had left her at his residence on his own free will and she was chained by another servant. However, the police took Bhatti in its custody. A case would be registered against him after a medical examination of the girl, police sources said.
MAN MURDERS WIFE: A man murdered his wife at a house in Old Mozang precincts on Friday. As per details, Maria, 18, was married to Mohammad Ali two months ago. According to locals, Maria’s screams were often heard outsider her house in Chah Pichwara and they suspect that Ali used to tortured his wife. They further say that there was a domestic dispute involved over which they used to fight. After Maria’s unexpected murder on Friday, the police reached the spot and recovered her badly tortured dead body and shifted to the morgue for an autopsy. The police have also arrested Ali for further investigation.
PROTEST AGAINST LAND MAFIA: Citizens protested against the land mafia for having illegal custody of a house in Mozang. The protesters burnt tyres and blocked the main road for some hours when the police tried to disperse them. The protesters said that the local SHO took Rs 200,000 as bribe and gave the house to the land mafia. Later on, the protesters stopped protesting after a negotiation was successful with high officials.