MUZAFFARGARH, July 7: Another child, who was injured at the hands of her father allegedly because of poverty, also succumbed to her injuries at Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur, on Monday, raising the toll to four.

Abdul Salam had beaten all his six children with a club in Basti Badani in Kahirpur Sadat police precincts in Alipur tehsil, some 100 kilometres away from here, on Sunday.

The fourth victim of father’s brutality was 11-year-old Shabana. She was brought to the BVH on Sunday night along with eight-year-old Shakeela and four-year-old Samiya.

Seven-year-old Safia, six-year-old Nadeem and one-and-a-half-year-old Khadija had died at Kahirpur Sadat rural health centre.

When this correspondent visited the village on Monday, it wore a gloomy look as hundreds of people were coming there to offer their condolences.

Talking to Dawn, Salam, who was detained at the Khairpur Sadat police station’s lockup, said he killed his children because of poverty. They used to demand money from him, but he was penniless as well as jobless, he added.

Salam worked as a daily-wager labourer for masonry works. He said he had been jobless for the last 10 days. He said whenever he came to his home, his children would demand money for ice cream or candies. As he had no money to give them, he killed them to avoid daily embarrassment.

He said he had five daughters and, because of poverty, he was apprehending a very bleak future ahead of them.

He said a local faith healer, Allah Diwaya, had cast black magic on him and under its influence, he lost his mental balance.

He said Diwaya had given him talismans, and said he would become rich but in vain. He said he had given a lot of money to Diwaya for the purpose and his failure to get the desired results pushed him into despair and despondency in the furtherance of which he attempted to kill all his children.

Narrating the events of Sunday’s gruesome episode, Salam said he had sent his wife Rehmat Bibi to fetch water from neighbourhood. When she was away, he said, he picked up a club (danda) and hit all the children on their heads when they were sleeping in the afternoon.

He said just before sleeping they had eaten chapattis with chatni. He said his children could not spoil their appetite adequately because of a lack of flour and other foodstuff and they were still yearning for more food before going into sleep.

Talking to Dawn, ASI Faiz Rasool said the accused could be a psycho because a normal person could not commit such an inhuman act. He said poverty factor was also important and they were looking into it as well.

Complainant Ashiq Husain, who is uncle of Rehmat Bibi, said he had got Salam examined from Nishtar Hospital for his disturbed mental balance but the doctors, instead of admitting him, just gave him a few pills and discharged him.

The village is situated in under-developed belt of this district and is largely having a poverty-stricken populace. Dwellers mainly rely on agriculture to earn their livelihood in the absence of any industry. The area is also in the grip of rising crime and Bosan gang is very much active here.

MNA Qayyum Jatoi had recently shown his concern over the pathetic social fabric of his constituency and said that his voters were demanding controlling price-hike and rising poverty.

Not more than a week has lapsed since Jatoi’s statement was reported in the press, the poverty has apparently claimed the lives of four innocent children.