DEHRA DUN, July 20: In an incident which sent shockwaves through the city's Karanpur area, a mechanic's four unmarried daughters attempted suicide by consuming lethal doses of insecticides. While two of them died instantly, the other two are still battling for their lives at the local hospital.Mechanic Bhajan Lal Sharma, the beleagured father, apparently had no inkling of any such tendency from his daughters. According to their relatives, the four girls - Ritu, Sonia, Rekha and Poonam - jointly agreed that suicide would put the final nail on all their problems arising out of poverty.The signed note they left by the girls, who reportedly lost their mother a few years back, says with a shocking terseness. ``We have taken this step after having considered the prevailing circumstances as well as the hardships that one cannot escape in these times.''Their only brother, who is a driver, was away from the house that day, added the relatives.``To avoid any kind of hindrance, they chose the secluded roof of their house to carry out their pact,'' said Rajendra Sharma, the girls' cousin. ``My mother came to know about the incident when a semi-conscious Rekha, who had somehow fallen from the stairs, pointed towards the roof,'' he revealed. Following this Sharma's relatives, who also happen to be his neighbours, immediately removed the girls from the roof and rushed them to the local hospital.However, 20-year-old Ritu and her youngest sister Sonia, a seventh standard student, were declared dead by the doctors, while 16-year-old Rekha and 14-year-old Poonam are under treatment.Sharma was too shocked at the happenings, refused to comment on the circumstances which forced his daughters to take this extreme step.However his relatives confirmed that the sisters had been driven to the extreme step due to the onus of poverty.The note clearly stated that nobody should be held responsible for their deaths as they had made a conscious decision to end their lives.According to their relatives, the four sisters were jovial by nature and betrayed no signs of having entered into the gory pact. ``While the eldest of the sisters had recently completed her graduation through correspondence course, the others were still studying in schools,'' said a shocked relative.
