Couple, child dies from electrocution

SUKKUR: A couple and their child died of electrocution in Gurgej Mohalla in Rohri on Friday.

One of the victims, Zahiran, had gone to the rooftop to lay out washed clothes on their clothesline that was made up of an electric wire. The minute she spread the clothes, she felt the current and started shouting for help.

Her three-year-old son, Nazakat, was playing nearby and rushed to her help when he heard her screams. Unfortunately, he was also caught in the current.

Zahiran’s husband, Ghulam Murtaza alias Laloo Shaikh, also ran up and tried to help the two but failed and was electrocuted himself. All three members of the family died on the spot.

Following the incident, hundreds of residents took to the streets to protest the deaths. They also staged a sit-in near the bus stand at Rohri as they shouted slogans against the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) authorities. They believed that Sepco was responsible for the ‘triple murder’.

Sepco officials leave open wires on the roof tops of houses and that is what caused the death, they said.

Meanwhile, SHO Rohri along with his team negotiated with the protesters and assured them that the culprits will be caught. He convinced the protesters to disperse.

Ghulam Murtaza’s father has filed a case against SDO Water and Power Development Authority Farid Pathan and line superintendent Imdad Memon at the Rohri police station.

According to neighbours, Ghulam Murtaza used to work as a labourer. His father Bakhtullah Shaikh was a low-grade employee at the Rohri municipal committee and used to work as a labourer part time.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2010.