Heartbroken by divorce, woman, daughter end life

Kulsoom had told her family in Faisalabad on phone that she would commit suicide

KARACHI:

A woman and her young single daughter living by themselves in the Qayumabad area committed suicide on Thursday by consuming rat poison.

Before ending her life, she told her family in Faisalabad on phone that they were committing suicide because her husband had divorced her.

Kulsom Imran, 40, and her daughter, Mahnoor Imran, 16, natives of Faisalabad, were brought to Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Emergency Ward by their relatives in Karachi in the early hours of Thursday.

Mahnoor was declared dead on arrival (DOA) by doctors while they tried to save the life of Kulsoom in vain. A chemical examination of fluids extracted from stomachs of the deceased, during an autopsy conducted later in the day, proved that they had consumed rodenticide, Defence police station SHO Shoaibur Rehman said.

Kulsoom's husband had divorced her a few days ago that had left her in severe emotional trauma, SHO Rehman said quoting her relatives. Imran, a property agent by profession, lived separately.

Late on Wednesday night, Kulsoom phoned her family members in Faisalabad and told them that she and Mahnoor were going to commit suicide. Alarmed by her suicidal call, her next of kin called their relatives in Karachi to rush to her home explaining them the urgency of the matter, Rehman said quoting initial investigations.

When Kulsoom's relatives reached her house, her neighbours also gathered and called the police because the door was locked from inside.

The door was broken open after the police arrived. Inside the house, Kulsoom and Mahnoor lay motionless. They were rushed to JPMC where Mahnoor was declared DOA while Kulsoom died during treatment.

The SHO said that the police immediately called the crime scene unit to the spot who had collected evidence including a bottle of rodenticide.

Police have kept the bodies in Chippa mortuary till such time that their heirs come for completing the legal formalities.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2023.