MIANWALI:
A mother of seven ended her life by consuming poisonous pills along with her two daughters following a domestic dispute in Mohalla Selwan, Kundian on Saturday.
A feeling of shock and mourning spread through the neighborhood after the incident.
According to details obtained by The Express Tribune, Muhammad Tahir Qureshi, son of Allah Din, a resident of Mohalla Selwan, and his wife had a dispute over their daughters’ marriage proposals. The husband allegedly pressured his daughters to accept the marriage proposals in accordance with his wishes, while the wife and daughters did not accept the proposals.
Following the argument, Tahir’s wife and daughters, Anza, 12, and Asma, 11, swallowed a toxic substance.
The mother and her two daughters were shifted to a rural health center, where a doctor referred them to DHQ Hospital in Mianwali after receiving immediate medical help. However, the three victims could not survive.
As soon as the incident was reported, Kundian police and 1122 rescue teams arrived at the scene. After the autopsy and the legal proceedings were completed by the police, the bodies were handed over to the heirs.
Cases where several members of the same family committed suicide or were killed by their own family were also reported earlier in the province.
On Monday, a woman allegedly poisoned herself and four other members of her family due to financial problems in Okara.
A poor laborer from Okara, Nazar Mohammad, who failed to repay a loan, was struggling to make ends meet, due to which his family often argued over financial issues.
Nazar’s son, Waqas Ahmed, 20, married Naheed, 19, two months ago. The couple lived in the Ghouspura area of Basirpur town, Okara with Nazar, his 45-year-old wife and sons, Ashfaq Ahmed, 18, and Sattar Ahmed, 16.
The family is said to have a debt of Rs150,000. The whole family was worried about repaying the debt and there were often altercations in the house.
Naheed’s in-laws often pressured her to bring money to her father to settle his debt.
Naheed reportedly grew tired of daily quarrels and fed her in-laws food containing poison, due to which her husband Waqas and brother-in-law Ashfaq died, while her other brother-in-law, 16, died. Sattar Ahmed and his mother-in-law were seriously affected.
In March last year, a man shot and killed his wife and three children following a domestic dispute before committing suicide in Rai Chand area of Chiniot.
In April 2019, a man committed suicide after killing his father and sisters following a family dispute over his ex-wife, whom he wanted to remarry, in Shafiqabad, Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th2020.