Agencies RAWALPINDI

A couple in north-east Pakistan has been detained on suspicion of murdering a 13-year-old girl who worked for them as a maid. The girl who goes only by one name, Iqra, succumbed to multiple injuries in hospital last Wednesday. A preliminary police investigation said she had been tortured for allegedly stealing chocolates.

The case in Rawalpindi has sparked widespread outrage and posts with the hashtag #JusticeforIqra garnering tens of thousands of views, and reigniting debate over child labour and the mistreatment of domestic workers. Laws pertaining to child labour can vary across the country, but children under the age of 15 cannot be employed as domestic workers in the province of Punjab.

“I felt completely shattered when she died," Iqra's father, Sana Ullah, told the BBC. He said that he had received a call from the police about Iqra last Wednesday. When he rushed to the hospital, he saw Iqra lying on a bed, unconscious. She died soon after. Iqra's employers, Rashid Shafiq and his wife Sana, have been arrested, along with a Quran teacher, who worked for the family. The teacher had brought Iqra to the hospital and left after telling hospital staff that the girl's father had died and her mother was not around.