Attempted suicide: Abused housewife jumps into Kirthar canal with son

Woman alleges she and her children were mistreated by husband.

SUKKUR: After being continually tortured by her husband, a woman tried to commit suicide by jumping into the Kirthar canal with her son on Thursday.

Some fishermen were present at the scene and rescued the woman and her child. Talking to The Express Tribune at the women’s police station in Sukkur, the woman said that she was unhappy with her marriage, which happened seven years ago. It was an exchange marriage, in which brides are exchanged reciprocally between two families. One of her cousins is married to her husband’s sister.

“Though [my husband’s] sister was living happily with my cousin, my in-laws perpetually tortured me for no reason,” she said. Whenever she complained to her husband, he would respond by physically assaulting her.

The woman has two sons and a daughter, who were also beaten regularly. “At the time of my marriage I had dreamt about living happily with my husband, but this was shattered just weeks after my marriage,” she said.

The woman was brought before a first additional sessions judge. After making her statement, she refused to go with her husband and chose to leave with her father instead.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2011.