A couple in Pakistan has been arrested for allegedly murdering a 13-year-old house help for "stealing" chocolates. The horrible case was reported from northeast Pakistan's Rawalpindi. The child named Iqra died in a hospital on Wednesday (Feb 12) after having multiple injuries on her body. An initial police investigation said she was brutally tortured while working as a maid at the couple's residence. 

Advertisment

Also read: At least 48 killed as illegally operated gold mine collapses in western Mali

As the news broke, massive outrage sparked across Pakistan on social media with posts under the hashtag #JusticeforIqra. The case has also ignited the debate on child labour and assaults on domestic helps. Children under the age of 15 cannot be employed as domestic workers in Pakistan's Punjab.

"I felt completely shattered inside when she died," Iqra's 45-year-old father, Sana Ullah, a farmer, told BBC. He said he received a call from the police informing about Iqra and when he rushed to the hospital, he found her lying on the bed unconscious. She died just minutes later. 

Advertisment

Also read: 'Last-minute platform change, train mix-up': What caused New Delhi railway station stampede that killed 18?

Iqra has been working as house help since she was eight, as her father was in debt and sent her to work in different houses. Two years ago, she moved to the house of the accused couple and was getting $28 per month. The couple themselves has eight children. 

Police have found evidence of frequent abuse with the young girl. There were multiple fractures on Iqra's hands and legs, and her head was also injured. 

Advertisment

"My heart cries tears of blood. How many... are subjected to violence in their homes every day for a trivial job of a few thousand?" activist Shehr Bano wrote on the social media platform X.

Also read: PM Modi expresses distress over New Delhi Railway Station stampede that killed 18

"How long will the poor continue to lower their daughters into graves in this way?" she added. 

Other people on the internet expressed their shock that the child was murdered over something as small as chocolate. 

"She died over chocolate?" a Pakistani user asked. Meanwhile, another wrote, "This is not just a crime, it's a reflection of [a] system that enables [the] rich to treat [the] poor as disposable." 

The employers named Rashid Shafiq and his wife Sana have been taken into custody, along with a Quran teacher who was employed by the couple. The teacher left Iqra at the hospital and told the staff that her father was dead and her mother was not around. 

WATCH: Delhi railway station stampede: 18 killed in New Delhi railway station stampede

(With inputs from agencies)