Student suicide: Medical report of Saqiba’s death issued

Saqiba had committed suicide after the principal of her college refused to send her Intermediate examination forms

QUETTA:

The health authorities issued the preliminary medical report of Saqiba Hakeem Kakar on Thursday, suggesting that she died by swallowing hair dye stone that caused her lungs and heart to collapse.

Saqiba had committed suicide after the principal of Government Girls Degree College, Muslim Bagh, refused to send her Intermediate examination forms. The student activist from Killa Saifullah district had been suspended for leading a protest in Quetta last year, demanding better education facilities at her college.

The report released by the Civil Hospital Quetta says that Saqiba consumed paraphenylenediamine (PPD) that affected her lungs and heart and she died after six hours of taking that poison.

“The probable causes of despondent Saqiba’s matched with the symptoms that suggested she had taken hair dye poison that ended her life before she reached Quetta,” said Police Surgeon Dr Noor Baloch.

Police were waiting for the medical report to register the First Information Report (FIR) against college principal Abiba Ghous and clerk Mehmood.

Saqiba’s family members and fellows went on hunger strike on Wednesday after delays in the lodging of FIR against the principal and clerk. “Unless the government lodges the FIR, our family members and Saqiba’s friends will continue their hunger strike,” Saqiba’s sister Nailaa Hakeem Kakar said.

Saqiba’s story went viral on social and electronic media. Balochistan CM Sanaullah Zehri suspended the principal and formed a committee to probe the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th,  2016.