Teenage Domestic Worker Found Dead at FIA Official’s Residence in IslamabadPakistan

A first information report (FIR) has been registered at Shams Colony Police Station on the complaint of the girl’s father, who told police he received a phone call informing him that his daughter was unwell and had been taken to a hospital.

According to the FIR, when the family examined the girl’s body at the hospital, they found marks of torture and old injuries on it. Her father demanded an investigation into the circumstances of her death and legal action against those responsible.

Police have taken the FIA director’s wife, a domestic employee and a Qari who visited the house to teach the children the Holy Quran into custody for questioning, the report said.

Police said the case was being investigated from all angles and further legal action would be taken after the post-mortem report is received. The exact cause of death has not yet been determined.

Meanwhile, FIA Gujranwala Director Muhammad Bin Ashraf has been removed from his post with immediate effect and directed to report to the FIA headquarters, according to the report.

The death was also reported by The Inquirer, which said a murder case had been registered at Shams Colony Police Station, that the girl’s father had demanded a transparent investigation, and that the real cause of death and the alleged signs of torture would be determined through investigation.

The case has drawn attention to the plight of child domestic workers in Pakistan, where the employment of young children in homes remains a persistent concern despite legal protections.

It recalls the case of 13-year-old Iqra, a domestic worker in Rawalpindi who died in February 2025 after allegedly being tortured by her employers, a case reported by the BBC that drew national outrage and renewed debate over child labour and the abuse of domestic workers.

In Punjab, children under the age of 15 cannot be employed as domestic workers under the law, though enforcement remains weak and many children continue to work in homes across the country.

Police said the investigation into Fatima’s death is continuing and responsibility will be established once the post-mortem report and the findings of the inquiry are available.