MIANWALI, July 16: The three sisters, of neighbourhood of Hashim Shah, who had allegedly committed collective suicide, were buried on Monday. Their bodies were found on Sunday in the Thal canal near Jhanbra, two kilometres from the Mianwali city.

Zareen Bibi, 18, Naureen Bibi, 15, and Perveen Bibi, 12, daughters of Ghulam Sarwar, went to the Thal canal at midnight and ended their lives by jumping into it.

They left a letter behind stating that they were ending their lives due to abject poverty and frequent altercations between their parents. The three girls put on black veils or burqa, tied their hands with one another with a dupata or head-covering cloth and jumped into the canal.

Sarwar, father of the three girls, told Dawn he had nine children, five sons and four daughters.

His one son and one daughter are married. His three sons work as daily wager in Lahore. He lives in his house with his wife, elder son and daughter-in-law, three daughters and the youngest son.

Zareen was a chronic patient of fits while Naureen and Perveen were students of class nine and six. He said no one had scolded or humiliated to the three girls.

The city police recorded the incident as a suicide case.

It is strange that the three girls left their home unnoticed at midnight and family members came to know about their act after reading the letter next morning.