NDTV | April 20, 2020
A pregnant woman has died of starvation in Pakistan’s Sindh province amid the coronavirus lockdown imposed in the country, according to media reports.
Sughra Bibi, 30, died in Jhudo town of Sindh’s Mirpur Khas district last week, reported the “Daily Express” newspaper.
Ms Bibi’s husband Allah Baksh said he is a daily wager and due to the lockdown could not find work and was facing problems in feeding his family, which includes six children.
Mr Baksh claimed he did not even have money to bury his wife. Local residents raised money through donations for Ms Bibi’s burial, the report said.
The Sindh government announced that they were investigating the starvation-related death.
“The Mirpur Khas administration has been asked to submit a report immediately as the government made arrangements for distributing free ration and cash to the poor in rural areas of Sindh,” a government spokesperson said.
“The report says the woman was buried after the local residents raised money for the last rites. Couldn’t they provide the money for some rations to this family?” the spokesperson said.
Pakistan is under lockdown for over a month now to check the spread of coronavirus which has claimed 176 lives and infected nearly 8,500 people in the country.
The government has unveiled a number of schemes for daily wage earners who are the worst hit economically in this curfew period. However, there have been reports of discrimination in the distribution of ration.