Give us Death...
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Poverty-stricken family pleads for death Wednesday, May 10, 2006 12:05:05 am Let us die: Mukhtar Ahmad Shaikh The Shaikhs are a family so tired of pain, and suffering that they want their misery to end. And so they have sent letters to the Supreme Court, President, Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra pleading for death. When death seems the only way out Abject poverty and disease have plagued this family - Mukhtar Ahmad Shaikh is asthmatic, his -30 year old daughter Khurshida and 26 year old son Mehfooz suffer from incurable muscular dystrophy, and his wife Sufiya Bano is suffering from cancer. "If government can’t do anything for my kids and my family then the only option left for us is to end our lives", says a despondent Mukhtar. A long winding road of pain and agony and an impossible task of treating his children on a salary of just Rs 2,200 have forced Mukhtar Ahamad Shaikh to think the worst. But then what are his options in a state where there is little social support. Unless help comes their way fast, the Shaikhs will have nothing other than death to look forward to.