Woman poisons family, kills three including herself

19-year-old Naheed was deranged by frequent quarrels and monetary problems

OKARA: A woman reportedly poisoned herself and four other membesr of her family due to financial problems in Okara on Monday.

A poor labourer of Okara, Nazar Mohammad, who failed to repay a loan, was struggling to make ends meet due to which his family often quarreled over financial issues.

Nazar’s son, 20-year-old Waqas Ahmed, married 19-year-old Naheed two months ago. The couple lived in Ghouspura neighbourhood of Basirpur Town, Okara with Nazar, his 45-year-old wife, and sons, 18-year-old Ashfaq Ahmed and 16-year-old Sattar Ahmed.

The family reportedly had a debt of Rs150,000. The whole family was worried about paying back the debt and there were often altercations in the house.

Naheed’s in-laws often pressured her to bring money from her father to settle the debt.

In the early hours of Monday, Naheed allegedly got fed up with the daily quarrels and fed her in-laws food containing poison. As a result, Naheed, her husband Waqas and brother-in-law Ashfaq died, while her other brother-in-law, 16-year-old Sattar Ahmed, and mother-in-law were severely affected. Doctors said their condition was critical.

Upon receiving information of the incident, Basirpur police station SHO Arsalan Azam Joiya, accompanied by a heavy contingent of police and Rescue 1122 teams, reached the spot. Police launched investigation into the incident. Rescue 1122 teams made efforts to save the lives of the victims, including the mother-in-law and her teenaged son.

Just a few days ago, a young man and woman tried to commit suicide by jumping into a canal, reportedly after facing opposition to their love affair. Sources revealed that the two lovebirds jumped into Renala Khurd Canal together to commit suicide. The young man named Muhammad Ali is a resident of Samundari, and the woman, Ghulam Zuhran, a resident of Faisalabad. Reportedly, Ali escaped from the nearby bank while the drowning woman was saved by a rescue team.

In a separate incident, a video recording of an 18-year-old boy who committed suicide over failure in love had come to light, in which he apologised to his mother and requested his funeral to be held in his beloved’s street.

Abdul Rehman, a resident of Faizabad A Division, ended his life by consuming poisonous pills reportedly over failure in love.

In video made from his mobile phone before his suicide, the deceased apologised to his mother and said he was not ending his life for the girl but because he was fed up of his life.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2020.