• Next 48 hours crucial for Rizwana’s health, say doctors.
• Victim has lung, blood infection; psychological problems.
• Victim’s family expressed fear Rizwana was poisoned.

LAHORE: The condition of the teenage domestic helper subjected to torture and domestic violence suddenly worsened at Lahore General Hospital, The News reported Monday.

Rizwana was taken to Lahore General Hospital in critical condition on July 24. However, given her condition on Sunday, she was shifted to ICU.

Ameeruddin Medical College/Lahore General Hospital Principal Prof Al-Fareed Zafar reached the hospital and called an emergency meeting of the Special Medical Board. 

The members conducted a thorough medical examination and tests of Rizwana. The doctors said that the next 48 hours are crucial for Rizwana’s health, and there is a fear that the girl will have to be transferred to a ventilator.

According to the doctors, the wounds are old, so the infection in the blood increased, and the complications of the disease intensified in some parts of the body. 

The medical board members told the media that the girl has a lung infection, causing her difficulty in breathing. She is also facing psychological problems due to severe violence.

Sometimes her condition improves, sometimes it worsens, they said.

Prof Jodat Saleem said that Rizwana’s bronchoscopy had been completed due to lack of oxygen. 

She had an infection in one lung and blood clots in the other. He said that the saturation was decreasing due to infection and clots. She has been diagnosed with sepsis. 

He said that the cause of sepsis is a blood infection that affects the whole body.

Prof Zafar said that the girl was brought to LGH in a very critical condition, where doctors are trying hard day and night to save her life, and in this regard, a special medical board was also formed. 

The treatment is being monitored, tests are being done daily, and the victim is getting the best medical facilities. 

Zafar said that the caretaker Punjab health minister, Prof Dr Javed Akram, is a renowned physician guiding him regarding the girl’s treatment. 

A cardiologist has also been roped in to monitor her heart rate.

Prof Zafar also met the victim girl’s family and assured them that no effort would be spared for the girl’s recovery. He also inquired about the previous history of the patient from the family.

The family expressed fear that Rizwana was given some poisonous substance during the domestic violence.

On the disclosure of the family, the medical board sent Rizwana’s test to a laboratory to detect the poisonous material so that the real facts are revealed.

The case

As per the text of the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant had sent his 14-year-old daughter to work as a domestic help on a Rs10,000 monthly salary, with the reference of an acquaintance named Chaudhry Mukhtar, seven months ago.

The girl’s parents found out about her being tortured at the judge’s house on Monday (July 23) when they went to meet her.

It may be noted that the victim’s parents said they hadn’t met her during these seven months but talked to her on the phone sometimes.

“When we [complainant, his wife and her brother] entered the gate, we heard my daughter crying. Hearing that made me concerned so we went towards the room and found my daughter in wounded condition […],” the complainant stated in the FIR.

He alleged that his daughter was subjected to severe torture by the judge’s wife, with torture marks all over the child’s body.

Upon examining her condition, the parents found several injuries on the girl’s entire body, with serious wounds on the head, which were “infested with maggots”.

The major injuries described by the complainant include swelling on lips and eyes, broken teeth and ribs and strangling marks on the neck.

As per the FIR, the complainant has accused Somia of torturing and keeping his daughter in illegal custody since the day she started working at the judge’s house and sought action.

The harrowing case of the teenager being brutally beaten up came to light when the victim was shifted to a hospital in Lahore with serious injuries, with the family accusing the judge’s wife, Somia, of torturing their child.

Last week, a case was registered against the wife of Civil Judge Asim Hafeez for purportedly subjecting the teenager to severe torture.

Judge Asim’s wife, however, was granted protective bail by the Lahore High Court on Thursday.

After the hearing of Asim’s anticipatory bail plea, Justice Farooq Haider approved her request till August 1 and ordered authorities to stop her arrest.

After being booked, Asim expressed her willingness to cooperate with the investigation into the allegations against her.