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Family pressure to pursue medical studies took LUMHS student’s life, say police
HYDERABAD: The student of third year at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) who was found dead in his hostel room four days ago committed suicide with his father’s licensed pistol reportedly because he was under constant pressure to continue pursuing medical studies in which he had no interest, said police on Monday.
The university’s inquiry team, however, noted during preliminary investigations that it was failure of the varsity’s student counselling system to notice the suicide victim Atif Arain’s lack of interest in studies.
Abdul Salam Arain, a family member of the victim, who met Jamshoro police along with other relatives, told Dawn after the meeting that Atif used his father’s pistol to take his life. It appeared the boy had committed suicide, he said.
The victim’s father Shafiq Arain said that he was in Badin. Other family members had met police in Jamshoro and they would share with him details after returning. He had learnt that his son had used his weapon, he said.
Late Atif was studying in LUMHS on self-finance basis but police learnt from his friends that he was not interested in pursuing medical education and was studying only to please his family.
“He wanted to be a cricketer or a chartered accountant,” said Jamshoro SSP Tauqir Naeem.
He said that police learnt after preliminary probe that Atif used to feel lonely.
Atif’s cousin, not brother, had died of cancer and another cousin was fighting cancer.
The deceased’s vital organs had been sent to laboratory for chemical examination to determine possibility of poisoning and its report was being awaited, said MLO Dr Waqar.
Meanwhile, the university’s probe committee visited the deceased’s room in hostel and met his friends. The committee wanted to know how Atif was able to bring the weapon to his room unnoticed by hostel security staff.
They were concerned about the fact that Atif was certainly in need of counselling over his increasing lack of interest in studies. “He was always barely able to get through examination mostly in second attempt during first two years of MBBS,” said a committee member.
He said the student’s academic record remained unimpressive. His friends informed that Atif was not interested in attending classes and used to remain in hostel but his below par academic performance failed to draw much attention, he said.
Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2019
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Comments (21) Closed
it kill me after reading of whole story
important lesson for other parents.
As said in movie '3 Idiots' ,we are living in pressure cooker to satisfy parents dream of becoming doctor or engineer.Sad a life lost for no reason. "Give me some sunshine,give me some rain,give me another chance I wanna grow up once again".
It is very common across the world when parents push their children too hard, and beyond what they are capable of in school. This does not just happen here.
Parents should stop living their lives through their children. This vicious cycle needs to stop so people can freely live their own lives and pursue their passions
Parents beware.
Parents reading this: Don't put undue pressure on your daughters and sons on any issue. Let them learn through their own mistakes.
this has become a dilemma of this society that in pursuit of status and worldly desires, the parents are forcing their off springs to purse careers of their choice and not of the children.
Parents beware. Don't impose your wishes on your children forcefully. Try to assess their interest towards a particular career or academic discipline. Work with them as a consultant /team member to find a plausible solution.
Very unfortunate
Strange and tragic new way to get out of professional studies. But there likely were other reasons not immediately apparent.
This tragic incident revolves around decades old colonial era socialcultural values, norms, traditions, precedents and practices in almost all South Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries wherein, only the professions of medical doctors or engineers are considered the best and most respectable in a society. As a result, almost all parents and families not only want their children to become either a medical doctor or an engineer but also force or coerce them to do so.
I think it's high time we get over the typical brown parent mentality of forcing our kids to become either doctors or engineers and let them pursue what they like. Sorry mom and dad, if it was your dream to become a doctor and you couldn't, guess what you achieved by forcing it on your child. This just needs to stop.
Also a lesson for all those who have been forced into med school or any other profession to seek help before resorting to such extreme measures. Nothing comes at the cost of human life.
Very disappointing and sad. I hope the deceased rests in peace. An important lesson for parents all over the world - forcing children into studies where they have no aptitude and then expecting great results creates more pressure on kids than the parents can imagine. This emotional torture is even worse than the physical beatings. Parents should allow kids to make their own decisions, especially in cases like these where the kid is clearly an adult and capable of making his own decisions.
Parents please understand before its too late for you.
Like they said in '3 Idiots' movie ,it is a life in pressure cooker and your parents decide if you want to become doctor or engineer.A life lost for no reason.
We should have a counselling service in each university and they should reach out to students who are not keeping up to help. This is very common in developed nation. Goal for these people is not to push students but to see what is wrong and provide professional care. I hope after this incident, someone will take notice and enact this service. This is a problem across all universities.
Parents and teachers meeting is must at least every 6 months and progress reports should be sent to parents after each semester, Parents/Counselors should guide but not enforce.Parents should always try to find out childrens ultimately life goals and just advise and support.
No Parent is an enemy of the Child.They want the best for them during their lifetime.In this unfortunate incident the son was psychologically disturbed and because of this Issue had developed chronic depression. The Parents or his friends should have noticed the change in his behaviour.
The Govt. must commit to a program where girls are paid to be educated and girls are given loans for higher studies. The financial funding can come from NGO's, Business Houses and the Government. A monthly amount of x number of rupees must be set aside and the underprivileged students who apply for such higher study scholarships must satisfy a particular criteria.
Our neighboring nation has started with a program called "beti padao, beti bachao", why not the PTI Government ?.
That’s why we have mediocre doctors , engineers etc.