Pakistani woman throws children into well

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - A Pakistani woman threw her three children into a deep well in the country’s central Punjab province after her husband did not buy new clothes for their children ahead of the Muslim Eid festival, police have said.

The heartbreaking incident occurred in the Attock district, some 85 kilometers (52 miles) from the capital Islamabad.

Fahim Khan, a police inspector investigating the case, said Saeeda Bibi, 32, had been pestering her husband Muhammad Fayyaz for money to buy the new clothes and shoes.

However, Fayyaz was struggling to make ends meet and facing chronic financial problems, prompting the couple to argue regularly, he added.

Saeeda was agitated and threw her children into a deep well on Friday before also throwing herself in, in what appeared to be an apparent suicide bid.

Local people who were there at the time of accident immediately called a rescue team, but by the time they arrived, four-year-old Muzammil and 14-month-old Muqaddis had already drowned.

The third child, six-year-old Haffiza, as well as Saeeda Bibi were saved and taken to a local hospital.

Nawaz Khan, a local resident, told Anadolu Agency the family’s living conditions were extremely poor.

"Police have registered a case against Saeeda in connection with the murder of her two children but she is in hospital and unable to record her statement yet," Fahim Khan told Anadolu Agency by phone.

Reports indicate over 39 percent of people in Pakistan are still living under the poverty line.

According to a Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform report published in June 2016 over two-thirds of people in FATA (73 percent) and Balochistan (71 percent) lived in poverty.

Punjab, where to well incident took place, has poverty levels of 31 percent, the report added.