Poverty-stricken rickshaw driver sets himself on fire in Karachi

KARACHI: A rickshaw driver committed suicide in Karachi after setting himself on fire in one of the posh areas of the city, Defence, allegedly due to not being able to provide for his family due to financial constraints, ARY NEWS reported on Tuesday.

According to details, the victim, identified as Ahmed, set himself on fire using petrol in Defence area as passers-by watched him helplessly while some of them even filmed the incident.

The rickshaw driver was shifted from the incident site in an injured condition and later succumbed to his injuries during treatment at a hospital.

Family of the victim said that he was a father of two children and runs a rickshaw to earn his livelihood.

Ahmed, who originally hailed from Rahim Yar Khan, was disturbed due to his financial issues as his family was starving for days after he was unable to provide food for them.

“He was passing through a mental trauma due to financial constraints that finally forced him to commit suicide,” the family said.

In a somewhat similar incident in Lahore on July 23, a poverty-stricken man allegedly committed suicide after poisoning his three minor children over inability to afford new clothes for his kids on Eid.

Read More: Mother commits suicide after killing children in Pakpattan

According to the police, Qadeer, resident of Waryam village of Zafarwal, gave poison to his children and later on also took the poisonous juice himself due to poverty.

Passersby informed the police and rescue officials after they found them lying unconscious near a ground in the village, said the police.

Rescue officials shifted them to the hospital where doctors pronounced Qadeer dead on arrival. Hospital sources said that the three children were in critical condition at the ICU.