Survivor gone: Last of the poisoned siblings dies

Relative says the children’s father had refused to return home but promised to send money.

FAISALABAD:

A seven-year-old boy who had been poisoned by his mother along with his two sisters on Saturday died in a hospital on Monday. The two girls had passed away on Saturday.

Police had arrested 27-year-old Samina* for giving poisonous pills to Shabbir*, 7, Aiman*, 5, and Sidra*, 3. The children were taken to Allied Hospital, Faisalabad.

Samina, a resident of Shadab Colony, had later told journalists that she was dejected on account of the conduct of her husband Muhammad Asif*, a truck driver.

She had said that Asif had grown addicted to drugs, taken another wife and stopped fulfilling his financial obligations. “He did not provide for the family and beat me when I asked for money,” she said.

Naveed Hussain, a relative of Asif, told The Express Tribune on Monday that the couple had been married eight years but their relations had soured recently. “Fighting over petty issues had become a routine,” he said.

Hussain said Samina had asked her in-laws to locate Asif after he did not come home for a month.

“We contacted him and asked him to return to his family. He refused. He, however, promised us that he would send Samina some money.”

“We are poor too… we used to send food to Samina and her children,” Hussain said.

Hussain said Samina called up her brother-in-law Muhammad Naeem on Saturday telling him that she had poisoned the children. “We took them to the hospital where the two girls passed away the same day,” he said.

Rafiq Wahla, the doctor on duty, said the poison was “very strong”. “We did our best to save them but their respiratory system had been badly damaged,” he said.

Samina had claimed on Saturday that she had told her in-laws that Asif had stopped visiting them and warned them of “an extreme step” if he sent no money to feed the children. She said she had also requested her brother-in-law to persuade Asif to return to her. “I gave poisonous pills to my children… I could not see them starving to death,” she said.

Police have registered a case against Samina under Sections 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Nishatabad Station House Officer Yar Muhammad Wattoo further action would be taken once they received a medical report.

On March 5, in Lahore, the police had arrested a couple for killing their two children after a quarrel over monetary constraints

* NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITIES.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2014.