LAHORE, July 21: A boy awaiting his matriculation result allegedly committed suicide along with the young girl he wanted to marry at a park in a housing society in Chuhng on Sunday afternoon.

According to police and Rescue officials, Bilawal Hanif (17) and Sania Rafique (19) wanted to marry each other but their families apparently did not take the issue seriously.

Sania in her dying statement reportedly told Rescuers 1122 personnel about the reason for their collective suicide. She also gave the rescuers her address so that they could inform her family about the incident.

Chuhng police inquiries showed Bilawal of Musallah village and Sania Rafique of Kamboh locality of Chuhng, had been seeing each other for some two years.

On Sunday, Bilawal and Sania decided to meet at a park in Izmir Town where they consumed poisonous pills.

A guard of the society after spotting them lying unconscious called Rescue 1122 ambulance that shifted them to the Jinnah Hospital where Bilawal was pronounced dead while Sania died after a short while in spite of being provided treatment.

Police handed over the bodies to their respective families without autopsies.

Muhammad Fiaz, eldest brother of Bilawal, told Dawn his brother left home along with a cousin on a motorcycle and later they were informed by Rescue 1122 officials about the incident.

“We were told Bilawal and a girl Sania consumed pills at a park and left a note. I rushed to the Jinnah Hospital to find my youngest brother dead,” said sobbing Fiaz.

He said Bilawal, who was waiting for his matriculation result, used to meet Sania, a teacher at a private school.

Fiaz, who is a health department employee, said he tried to convince his brother that he should not get involved in such matters as he was too young for this. Fiaz said he had also advised Sania, daughter of a vendor, against contacting Bilawal.

He said he had yet not seen the suicide note left by his brother that was with the Rescue personnel.

Chuhng SHO Hussnain Haider, however, claimed no note left by the deceased had been handed over to the police by the rescuers.

According to police, Sania’s mother was an employee at a private hospital.

Saddar SP (Operations) Malik Muhammad Awais said police handed over the bodies to the families of the deceased boy and the girl as they didn’t want post-mortem.

He said police inquiries had established that the victims wanted to marry each other.

Opinion

Editorial

Plugging the gap
06 May, 2024

Plugging the gap

IN Pakistan, bias begins at birth for the girl child as discriminatory norms, orthodox attitudes and poverty impede...
Terrains of dread
06 May, 2024

Terrains of dread

KARACHI, with its long history of crime, is well-acquainted with the menace. For some time now, it has witnessed...
Appointment rules
06 May, 2024

Appointment rules

IT appears that, despite years of wrangling over the issue, the country’s top legal minds remain unable to decide...
Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....