Scolded by father, five siblings eat rat poison near Rawalpindi

The oldest is still in critical condition, younger four are out of danger

RAWALPINDI: Five siblings were rushed to hospital after they allegedly consumed rat poison on Thursday. The police said the children — two adult women, two minor girls, and a boy — had been scolded for undetermined reasons by the father at their home in Bagh Sardaran a little while before the incident.

The condition of the eldest girl is stated to be critical, while three girls and a boy are out of danger, the Banni police added.

They were identified as Sadaf, 20, Misbah, 18, S* 16, A*, 2, and the boy, W*, 13.

According to Station House Officer (SHO) Chaudhry Akhtar, they consumed pellets used to kill rats after their father snubbed them. All of them had their stomachs washed  at the hospital, he said.

He said that all the children live with their widower father, Ijaz, an accountant at a flour mill in Naswari Bazaar, and their grandmother. Their mother died in 2014.

The SHO said the police are investigating the incident.

He said doctors at Benazir  Bhutto Hospital were listing the younger victims as being out of danger, but Sadaf, the oldest victim, is still critical and had not regained consciousness when this report was filed.

He said the police had not recorded the statements of the victims yet as they are not in condition to speak.

*Names of minors withheld

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2016.