ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: A young man from Sindh, who had set himself on fire on the Supreme Court premises on October 2, died at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday night, hospital sources said.

“The victim had been struggling for life for the last five days as he had suffered more than 50 per cent burns,” the sources said.

Niaz Khaskheli, father of three from Sanghar, was in distress due to unemployment.

Last Monday, he doused himself with kerosene oil and set himself on fire on the apex court premises, sustaining critical burn injuries.

Mr Khaskheli, 38, in his statement to police said he belonged to a poor family and worked in a private laboratory in the Blue Area and was living in a hostel in H-8/1.

On August 28, three persons robbed him of Rs500 cash, a mobile phone, wrist watch and a gold ring when he was returning to his hostel. He accused three hostel fellows — Rajesh Kumar, Aftab and Shahid — of ill-treatment that distressed him.

But his friends and doctors described him as a problematic young man with suicidal tendency.

Mr Khaskheli, an unskilled high school dropout, succeeded in getting jobs a number of times, but failed to keep them mainly because of his attitude.

All this combined with absence of social support from friends apparently forced him to end his life.