An inflation-hit poor man on Monday tried to ended his and his three children’s lives after swallowing the poisonous pills in Raiwind area of Lahore, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Rescue 1122 shifted the man and his three children to a hospital in critical condition, but 14-year-old daughter Zeenat could not survice.

Police said that the citizen was under lot of financial and mental stress due to rising inflation. He was unable to provide for himself and his family keeping in view the galloping prices of daily use items. 

Police said that the children who were administered poisonous pills by their father were aged between 8 and 15 years old.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday, weekly inflation, measured by Sensitive Price Index (SPI), posted an increase of 31.83 per cent for the combined income group on a year-on-year basis ending Jan 19 due to a massive surge in prices of both food and non-food items.

Former finance minister Miftah Ismail said on Sunday that more than 80 million people in Pakistan are living below the poverty line. As many as 60% of Pakistanis earn below Rs35,000.

The World Economic Forum in its global crisis risk report last week identified debt crisis, sustained and/or rapid inflation, state collapse, failure of cyber security measures, and concentration of digital power as top five risks faced by Pakistan.

Reporter Mehr Waheed Alam