MULTAN: The mother of the three children who died after taking toxic medicines prescribed and provided by a homeopath confessed that she, along with her late husband, poisoned the children because of poverty.

The father committed suicide by taking the same medicine five days after killing his children.

Cantonment SP Kamran Amir told the media that Sumera Bibi in her statement to police claimed that she and her husband Khadim Hussain poisoned the children because of poverty while her husband also ended his life. He said police arrested Sumera Bibi and on her information seized the poison which was buried in the ground near the house.

According to the initial police investigation, no evidence of the involvement of Dr Saleem (homeopath) had been found, he said.

On May 21, Khadim Hussain, a resident of Hamidpur Kanora, informed police that he took medicine for his three children from the clinic of Saleem for cough treatment. He stated that the doctor gave them powder doses in small pieces of paper and the next morning when his children consumed the medicine, their condition worsened and they died one after another.

Police arrested Saleem and one of his assistants and launched investigation.

Khadim’s brother Ghulam Abbas claimed that his brother took the same medicine and died.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2021