‘Attempted suicide’: Two nomad girls fighting for life

Six girls ingested insecticide pellets in Attock

RAWALPINDI: Two nomad girls from Attock are fighting for their lives at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH). Three others died while one is stable after they ingested insecticide pellets on a bet, on Tuesday.

Three girls -- Malkani, Sana, and Fauzi -- died at the district headquarters hospital in Attock.

The maternal aunt of the 14-year-old Nadia, who is under treatment at HFH, said that the six girls took the pills after one of them claimed they were harmless. “The incident occurred at 1:30pm on Tuesday, while the elders of the family were at work”, she informed the reporter.

The second woman is 21-year-old Sana, who is the sister-in-law of Nadia, and is the mother of two children, the old woman said. Nazi, one of the six girls, is stable.

When asked about their sources of income, the old woman said that they were very poor people and sing songs at weddings to earn their livelihood.

In response to a question about the health of the two girls, the doctor, requesting anonymity, said that they were not out of danger yet.

A male attendant of the two girls claimed that the doctor had suggested that Nadia was not stable and that she needed to be put on a ventilator. He said that the doctors, however, had not been able to arrange one for her.

MS Dr Raja Shafique Sarwar maintained that according to his reports, the two girls were out of danger.

Regarding the shortage of ventilators, Sarwar said that there are 40 ventilators available which is sufficient for patients in a public hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2016.