ISLAMABAD, April 9: Suicide by Umar Deen, the main bread earner of his 15-member family, has left the household in turmoil.

Umar, 28, committed suicide at Aabpara Chowk due to financial problems last Friday.

His 70-year-old father transports fruit and vegetable from Mandi to the market on a donkey cart, while his brother is a labourer and has to look after his own family.

Umar also had to bear the fees of his seven younger school- going siblings. One of his sisters’ marriage, which was likely to be held in the last week of this month, has been delayed due to financial problems.

His another brother, Rameez, a class-X student, whose one leg is crippled by polio, told Dawn that Umar wanted to hold the marriage ceremony of his sister in the last week of this month. “But we are now mourning his death and would decide the new date after sometime. It is also not possible to arrange the marriage due to financial problems,” he said.

Rameez said his brother was depressed and in distress due to the financial condition of the family.

Umar used to talk about the miserable economic situation in the country and believed that there was a need for a revolution to change the system, he added.

Rameez quoted his deceased brother as saying that his family was not alone but millions of Pakistanis were also living in miserable conditions. He said Umar had paid Rs80,000 to Rs90,000 to the usurer but had failed to pay the last three instalments. He said he informed him about the loan only two days before his death.

Tanveer Ali, a close relative of the deceased, said Umar took the loan from his ex-landlady one year back during the marriage of his elder brother.

Some of the amount was utilised during the marriage, while the rest was spent on purchase of grocery items, paying the house rent and fees of his siblings, he added. He used to pay Rs6,000 to Rs7,000 twice a month to the landowner, Tanveer said, adding Umar was selling ice-cream for the last three years.

Earlier, Rs500-Rs600 daily was incurred on making the ice- cream but the cost increased to Rs1,200 during the last couple of months. Moreover, majority of the ice-cream material rotted in freezers due to frequent power loadshedding.

Abdul Rehman, a close friend of the deceased’s father, said Umar talked to him, his family members, and friends some minutes before committing suicide.

During his last conversation, he told him that he was going to Dadyal to repair the ice-cream machine. He also prepared a dowry list of his sister along with a list of 50 guests to be invited to the ceremony.

Rehman said he did not tell anybody about taking Rs80,000 loan from the landlady. It was a huge amount for him and his family.

“We would have definitely done something had Umar told us about the loan,” he added.

Raja Waseem, son of the ex-landlady, told Dawn that Umar had taken the loan about three to four years back for the marriage of his sister.

The loan was given without any interest, and not a single penny was paid against it, he claimed, adding he had promised to return the loan within one-and-a-half years.

He said his mother would decide whether to write off the loan or not.