Unemployment drives man to suicide

The father of five left behind letters appealing to the PM to give family shelter and work

KARACHI: A father of five who had attempted suicide by immolation lost his battle for life while undergoing treatment at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital on Thursday. Frustrated by unemployment and poverty, two letters were obtained from his clothes with appeals to the prime minister to provide his family with housing and employment.

The 38-year-old man, H*, was brought to the hospital’s burns ward in critical condition on Wednesday after he had attempted suicide at a graveyard near his home in Ibrahim Hyderi. The deceased had poured petrol on himself and set himself alight, sustaining burns on 60 per cent of his body. He was pronounced dead on Thursday morning.

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H’s wife told The Express Tribune that he used to earn his livelihood operating a donkey cart but had been without work for the past three months. “He was extremely upset because of unemployment,” she said. “He used to go out in search of work but could not be hired. In order to make ends meet, he would take his cart out to make some money, but it was not sufficient.” She added that they had five children, with the eldest being nine years old.

H’s cousin stated that the deceased used to rent a house in Umar Colony, Ibrahim Hyderi. However, the inability to pay rent forced him and his family out of the house and into a makeshift home on an empty plot near Korangi Creek Road.

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He explained that H’s children had asked him for warmer clothes due to the cold weather. “He left them with the promise of those clothes but never returned,” his cousin said. “I went to the graveyard where he burned himself and found his clothes and two letters appealing to the prime minister to give his family shelter and work.”

The funeral prayers of the deceased were held at Jama Masjid near Ibrahim Hyderi on Thursday evening, after which he was laid to rest.

*Initial used to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2020.