Work woes: Police doubt WASA driver’s suicide note
Widow says non-payment of dues had left them in debt.
FAISALABAD:
A 55-year-old driver at the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) appeared to have committed suicide on Wednesday to protest nonpayment of salary.
Mirza Abdul Hameed, a resident of Mehndi Mohallah in Manzoor Park, Nishatabad, joined Wasa as a driver a few years ago. On Wednesday, Wasa staff found him lying dead in the office parking stand and called the police. When they checked his pockets, they found a suicide note.
Police said he had written in the note that he was disappointed with the indifference of senior Wasa officers towards workers’ problems.
It said that he was committing suicide since he had not been paid on time due to which he could not submit his son’s college fee. He had written that his son was thrown out of college, which was intolerable for him. He had also written that the job was his only source of income, but he had not been paid.
“I live in a rented house …the landlord regularly humiliates me for the delay in payment of the rent …I cannot bear this any longer,” he had written.
His widow, Nasreen Bibi, 48, said that Hameed had not been paid for several months. She said her husband was running the house on debt. She said they owed a shopkeeper in the area thousands of rupees for buying grocery on credit. She said the shopkeeper had been frequently visiting them to demand payment.
The family of the deceased blamed Wasa administration for Hameed’s death. They said if the Agency did not start paying its staff on time, similar incidents could follow.
Civil Lines police said they were not sure yet of the authenticity of the note recovered from Hameed’s pocket. They said some of Hameed’s coworkers told the police that the handwriting did not appear to be Hameed’s. Police said they were not ruling out a murder, where the assailants had put a note in his pocket. They said investigations have begun. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.
Hameed is survived by a wife and two sons, Muddassir, 17, and Mubashir, 14.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2012.
A 55-year-old driver at the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) appeared to have committed suicide on Wednesday to protest nonpayment of salary.
Mirza Abdul Hameed, a resident of Mehndi Mohallah in Manzoor Park, Nishatabad, joined Wasa as a driver a few years ago. On Wednesday, Wasa staff found him lying dead in the office parking stand and called the police. When they checked his pockets, they found a suicide note.
Police said he had written in the note that he was disappointed with the indifference of senior Wasa officers towards workers’ problems.
It said that he was committing suicide since he had not been paid on time due to which he could not submit his son’s college fee. He had written that his son was thrown out of college, which was intolerable for him. He had also written that the job was his only source of income, but he had not been paid.
“I live in a rented house …the landlord regularly humiliates me for the delay in payment of the rent …I cannot bear this any longer,” he had written.
His widow, Nasreen Bibi, 48, said that Hameed had not been paid for several months. She said her husband was running the house on debt. She said they owed a shopkeeper in the area thousands of rupees for buying grocery on credit. She said the shopkeeper had been frequently visiting them to demand payment.
The family of the deceased blamed Wasa administration for Hameed’s death. They said if the Agency did not start paying its staff on time, similar incidents could follow.
Civil Lines police said they were not sure yet of the authenticity of the note recovered from Hameed’s pocket. They said some of Hameed’s coworkers told the police that the handwriting did not appear to be Hameed’s. Police said they were not ruling out a murder, where the assailants had put a note in his pocket. They said investigations have begun. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.
Hameed is survived by a wife and two sons, Muddassir, 17, and Mubashir, 14.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2012.