Shazia Bashir Masih, 13-years-old Christian maid servant, was born on May 23, 1997 in a Christian family in the town of Shahkot, district Nankana Sahib. Her real father Akbar Masih passed away and his widow, mother of Shazia got married to Bashir Masih. 

In May 2009 Amanat Ali, the man has been accused of introducing child laborers to wealthy families, met with Shazia’s mother Nasreen  Bibi, 48, and told her about his connection with Mohammad Naeem’s family, where he could have introduced Shazia as a maid servant and they would earn a handsome amount in the form of monthly salary and other facilities. After this “lucrative” offer, somehow Nasreen showed her willingness to allow her underage child, Shazia to join the advocate Naeem’s family as a maid servant.

Sadly, Nasreen never knew the fact that Amanat Ali was known as a dealer, who look for poor and illiterate large families without conveniences in their lives. Not only Shazia’s, but some other families also agreed to send their children with Amanat Ali without any written agreement, which would have been impossible to think of in those cases anyway.

As we all know now that Shazia was killed at Mohammad Naeem’s house and Pakistani media covered this case as one of the leading stories last month. During that period a 28-years old woman, couldn’t confirm the name, visited Shazia’s family and shared her grief by saying that her own two children, son Naveed and daughter Arti, along with three other children from Sahiwal “handed over” to Amanat Ali, but no one heard of those five kids of late.

On January 23, 2010, Lahore police arrested Amanat Ali and after an early interrogation he shared the information and thankfully Naveed and Arti were found along with other three kids, including one girl named Irum. In police presence both Naveed and Arti told that how they were never allowed not only to see eachother during last couple of year, but also had been denied access to talk to their parents on the phone.

Before last Christmas, Shazia’s parents and her step brother visited Mohammad Naeem’s house (Bungalow No. AA-444 in Defense Housing Scheme) in Lahore and on festive occasion demanded Shazia’s salary and a request for meeting their daughter, but Mohammad Naeem treated the family harshly and the poor family went back home without meeting Shazia. They did try again in January, last month; to meet Shazia, their daughter, but “angry” landlord Mohammad Naeem refused to allow them, infact twice in as many months. While the family asked for the due salary again, he angrily told them that Amanat Ali took the salary, who would already leave for Sahiwal. More shocking was the fact that Naeem had beaten the poor Shazia in front of the family. That shows how cruel he is by nature. 

On January 21, 2010 shock of the life Shazia’s family had experienced as an ambulance, carrying a dead body of their daughter, reached their home accompanied with Mohammad Naeem, who shared the saddest news of 13-years-old Shazia demise. He told the shocked family that their daughter had been killed after “falling down” from the stairs. He “offered” the family 20 thousand rupees for funeral arrangement and even in those grey moments he pressurized the family not to take the “matter” further anywhere, as no one, including law-enforcement authorities, would do nothing against an advocate.

Now we have seen in last couple of weeks that during the court hearings Lahore Bar Association’s lawyers, where in 2005-2006 Mohammad Naeem led the association as a president, denied the Pakistani media to cover the court proceedings, they even tried to stop Shazia’s parents to attend the hearing in the court. No lawyer, including Christian lawyers, is willing to take the case of Shazia’s family. February 10, 2010 is the next court hearing. Case continues.

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