Woman commits suicide over power bill

GUJRANWALA:

An elderly woman jumped into a drain to commit suicide after paying her electricity bill from money saved for a surgery.

Her body could not be found till the evening.

According to sources, Razia Saeed, a 65-year-old resident of the Khiali area, had been suffering from a hernia for a long time and had been advised by doctors to undergo surgery. She had been saving money for the treatment.

However, when her electricity bill exceeded Rs10,000, she paid it from her savings instead of using the money for her medical treatment.

The woman left her home under the pretence of buying medicines, but jumped into the Khiali sewerage drain.

The CCTV footage of the incident also surfaced, showing the woman jumping into the drain while her daughter tried in vain to save her.

The elderly woman was the mother of three sons and a daughter. Her two sons lived with the parents. One of them, Usman, sells lentils and rice to support the family.

Usman said their electricity bill previously used to amount to around Rs1,000 to Rs1,300, which they paid every two months, causing the dues to increase.

However, the bill this month was of Rs10,500, which was beyond the family’s means.

Therefore, the money set aside for the mother's medicines and surgery was spent to pay the bill.