An 8-year-old Pakistani girl, who was illegally working as a maid, has been murdered by her Rawalpindi employers for letting their pet parrots escape, police reports.

The tragic incident happened on Sunday when the child named Zhora opened the parrot cage to feed the birds, as CNN reveals. Unfortunately, the parrots flew away, and she couldn’t stop them, as Zia Uddin, Rawalpindi police superintendent, claims.

When the girl’s employers, who run a business buying and selling animals, found out about the missing birds, they beat her unconscious, before abandoning her at a local hospital. On Monday, the 8-year-old girl died of her wounds.

Zhora, the brutally beaten to death child, was employed as a babysitter for the family’s toddler. In return, they have offered to pay for her education.

According to Uddin, the hospital called the police, and two suspects have now been arrested.

An initial police investigation, known locally as a first information report (FIR), said:

“The victim was brought to the hospital and was still alive. She had injuries on her face, hands, below her rib cage and legs. She also had wounds on her thighs, which suggested that she might have been sexually assaulted.”

Authorities have been permitted to detain the suspects on remand for three days, while an investigation is being made. Police have sent samples for forensic examination and are currently awaiting results. However, the girl’s cruel employers will not be formally charged until the investigation has been completed.

A 2018 report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reveals that Pakistan has a huge problem with child labor.

The report has estimated that around 12 million children were working in the country. Although the government of Pakistan has not set a national legal minimum age for employment, the law prohibits minors from working as domestic servants.

This distressing incident reminds of a similar case from June 2018. Then, a judge and his wife from Islamabad were sentenced to three years in prison and a 500,000 rupee (around $3,000) fine each for keeping a 10-year-old child maid in illegal confinement. They have brutally burned the little girl’s hand after a broom went missing, hit her with a ladle, and threatened her life, as the HRCP reports.

The organization reveals other cases, including an 11-year-old maid, who was allegedly clubbed and burned by her employers. They add that these terrifying examples are just the tip of the iceberg.