Pakistani worker ‘commits suicide’ in Saudi Arabia

The labourer was not paid his wages for the last three months

RAWALPINDI: A middle-aged labourer and father of four from a village near Kahuta has reportedly committed suicide in Saudi Arabia after he was not
paid his wages for three months, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Shahid Iqbal resident of Nara Mottor, hanged himself in his room in Al-Abwa city of Saudi Arabia on July 31 after he was not paid his wages.



“My brother was very upset the day before he committed suicide as I spoke to him on phone. My brother told me that his employer had
not paid him. He asked me what the financial conditions of his family were, I told him that they were struggling hard,” said Zahid Iqbal, younger brother of Shahid.

Talking to this scribe on the phone, Zahid said that his brother was promised to be paid 1,400 Saudi riyals every month. The company, however, fixed 700 riyals as his monthly salary that upset Shahid from his very first day in Saudi Arabia, Zahid said.

“My family took a loan of Rs250,000 to send Shahid to Saudi Arabia in a bid to improve financial conditions of the family. We were satisfied that Shahid would be able to raise his children in a better way,” Zahid said.



He added that some other people from their area informed him that Shahid had committed suicide in Saudi Arabia.

Responding to a question about the nature of Shahid’s work in Saudi Arabia, Zahid said that the agent in Pakistan said that Shahid used to do packing and loading work.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2016.