Poverty forces three of a family to suicide

DANG, Feb 15: Three members of an impoverished family in Bhalakcha-1 of Rukum committed suicide after failing to gather enough money for the treatment of an epileptic daughter.



Dal Bahadur Oli, 70, his wife Kali and 27-year-old epileptic daughter Tulasa killed themselves by hanging simultaneously on a tree using a single rope. [break]



The trio committed suicide after failing to generate money for Tulasa´s treatment, police quoted locals as saying. The locals called the police after finding them hanging from a butter nut (chiuri) tree near their house Monday morning.



Tulasa had epilepsy since childhood and the family had repeatedly sought help from faith healers. The Olis had just their house in property and were not able to pay for quality treatment.



Their elder son Devi Lal had gone to his in-laws with his wife Sunday evening and the trio took the extreme step in his absence during the night.



“They (parents) used to say death would be a better option than the burden of her illness. Now they have committed suicide in our absence,” Devi Lal, who arrived Monday morning after hearing the tragic news from locals, said. The other son of Olis is in India to work.



The fact that Tulasa was not married till 27 due to the disease also compounded matters for the old parents. Locals say that father also had epilepsy in the past and the disease disappeared as he grew older but the disease did not leave Tulasa even after 10 years.



“We (brothers) were earning money for her treatment as she could not be married due to her disease. But all our efforts have gone in vain,” Devi Lal added.



The couple was tired of repeated failure in the daughter´s treatment through traditional means and couldn´t afford modern medical treatment due to financial constraints. “They probably decided to die after failing to generate money to take her outside for treatment,” DSP at District Police Office Hom Jung Chauhan said.



People in the village that is a three-hour trek from district headquarters Khalanga said the couple had suffered immensely in the lack of the daughter´s treatment. Locals said the couple had even started collecting donations for her treatment but had not been able to gather much.



Police handed over the bodies to locals after postmortem and are conducting further investigation into the matter.

Related story

Food crisis looms large as drought hits Madhesh districts