Pakistan's Supreme Court today gave the custody of a 10-year-old maid, who was allegedly tortured while working for an influential district judge, to an orphanage till her parents were traced.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar - who is presiding over the three-member bench hearing the case - ordered police to hand over the girl to a government-sponsored orphanage as identity of her parents was not exactly known.
It also ordered that the girl be kept away from those claiming to be her parents.
Last week, the apex court took suo moto notice of the case after pictures of the tortured maid went viral on social media, and ordered DNA tests to confirm the identity of the girl's parents after they submitted affidavits in court claiming that they had reached a settlement with her employers, who have been accused of torturing her.
Pictures of the maid went viral on social media, prompting chief justice of the Supreme Court to order a police probe.
The medical examination of the maid has shown multiple signs of torture.
The girl initially told police that she worked at the house of District and Sessions judge Raja Khurram Ali Khan in Islamabad and was ill-treated by the judge's wife.
Justice Nisar also order the police to conduct the probe in a "fair and transparent manner".
He adjourned the case till January 18.
Earlier, the judge and his wife were booked after the maid recorded her statement before police in the presence of Assistant Commissioner Nisha Ishtiaq.
They were accused of keeping the juvenile housemaid in wrongful confinement and torturing her over minor mistakes.
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