Poverty pushes family to suicide

A family of six consumed poisonous pills in a suicide attempt in Shahpur Kanjra in order to escape poverty.

A family of six consumed poisonous pills in a suicide attempt in Shahpur Kanjra on Wednesday, in order to escape poverty.

Forty-year-old Muhammad Akbar Shah and two of his daughters died after consuming the poison. His wife, Aiman, his 12-year-old daughter Khadija and his son survived the suicide attempt.

Akbar, a rickshaw driver, had been living with his family and his brother, Amjad Shah, in a two-room house in Shahpur Kanjra village for the past two years.

Amjad told the police that Akbar was constantly stressed about his financial situation as he was the family’s sole breadwinner. Amjad said his brothers daily earnings had been decreasing daily, and the family lived on the brink of poverty.

According to Amjad, Akbar fought with his family on Wednesday about financial issues and fled his home, only to return a while later with some pills.

He dissolved the pills in water and gave the mixture to his family, consuming some himself.

The family was taken to hospital soon after they consumed the poison, where doctors managed to save Akbar’s wife and daughter.

Muhammad Aslam, Akbar’s father, said he had no idea that his son would take such an extreme step to escape destitution.

There is little official data on suicide rates in Pakistan, making it difficult to determine the effect of poverty on suicide. But Hina Jilani, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (Punjab Chapter) said that deteriorating economic and social conditions were making people, especially youngsters, desperate. Talking to The Express Tribune, she said unemployment was compelling families to choose death over life.

Jilani said that before finalising the budget, the government should have considered the welfare of the public and decreased the defence budget. “Shame on our bombs and guns which cause people to go hungry,” she said.

On the other hand, Afzal Khokhar, a PML-N MNA from the area, told The Express Tribune that there was probably some other reason behind the suicide.

He said that no one had committed suicide because of hunger, adding that due to his tight schedule on Wednesday he had not visited the family.

Talking to Express News, philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi said he saw similar cases very frequently.

“Every now and then we get women outside our homes, asking us to take in their children because they cannot afford rent or food,” he said. “There is only one reason for this: poverty.”

Edhi blamed tax-evasion and lavish spending for the huge disparity between the rich and the poor, adding that government institutions were not pushed to alleviate poverty either.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2010.