Woman takes own life over inflated electricity bill in Punjab

GUJRANWALA: In a tragic incident, a 65-year-old woman, suffering from a hernia, committed suicide after using her treatment money to pay a hefty electricity bill, ARY News reported on Sunday.

The patient, named Razia Bibi, had diligently saved money for her hernia operation. However, when faced with an unexpected electricity bill of Rs 10,000, she had no choice but to use her medical savings to settle the payment.

Talking to the police officials, the son of the deceased woman, Usman stated that his mother had gone out to buy medicine but was deeply distressed over the financial setback, overcome by despair, she jumped into a nearby drain.

“My mother was a hernia patient and had saved money for her operation, but after receiving the electric bill of Rs 10,000, she paid it with the money saved for her surgery and later committed suicide,” Usman said.

Razia Bibi’s daughter attempted to rescue her mother from the drain but was unsuccessful, while the local authorities are currently conducting a search operation to recover the woman’s body.

Footage of the incident has also come to light, showing the moments leading up to the tragedy, meanwhile, the Gujranwala Police have launched an investigation into the case.

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It is pertinent to note here that this is not the first such death in Pakistan, since the rise in power tariff, several poor Pakistanis have lost their lives in accidents and self-harm due to electricity bills.

Earlier this week, a man fatally slit the throat of his younger brother over a dispute about excessive electricity bill in the same city.