Supreme Court rejects out-of-court settlement in Tayyaba torture case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered police to collect evidence in a case pertaining to the alleged torture of a housemaid, Tayyaba, till Feb 15.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, rejected an application of accused judge Raja Khurram Ali Khan pertaining to an out-of-court settlement reached between him and the victim’s parents.

The chief justice observed that the application seeking to allow the parties involved in the case to reach an agreement lacked merit.

In February last year, father of 10-year old housemaid Tayyaba forgave the judge and his wife accused of torturing his daughter.

It should be noted that Tayyaba torture case came to the fore when the pictures of the 10-year old girl went viral on social media with internet users claiming that the maid works at additional sessions judge Khurram Ali Khan’s house and was subjected to severe torture by the family she worked for.

Tayyaba, after being recovered by the law enforcement agencies, claimed that she fell from stairs but in the statement recorded for the First Information Report (FIR), the girl stated that she was tortured by the judge’s family.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar had taken suo motu notice of the case of torture on the 10-year old.