KARACHI: For Anita and Akbari, Tuesday was the perfect day to combat a life-threatening disease. The health workers had been visiting QayyumabadÂ’s A Area to administer polio vaccines for over a year now. The people were always welcoming and the two women had developed a cordial relationship with the residents.That morning, Anita and Akbari, had been assigned to cover street number 6. The other team, with Fahad Khaalil and Salma Bibi, were on street number 7. At approximately 10:10am, Khaalil had just knocked on the door of a two-storey house when two men on a motorcycle came up from behind and shot the two health workers several times. Fahad sustained five bullet-wounds and died on the spot. Salma was shot thrice. A passerby, Syed Asghar Ali Shah, was also injured.
The assailants then turned into the adjacent street and targeted Anita and Akbari. Both were shot dead at point-blank range in front of a four-storey house they had just approached. The criminals escaped firing shots into the air.
“One of the women was still breathing when I reached the spot,” a resident told The Express Tribune. “They were lying on the street for around 10 minutes before anyone dared try to rescue them.”
The bodies of the deceased and the injured were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate and Medical Centre. “Fahad, Akbari and Anita were pronounced dead on arrival,” confirmed the medico-legal officer Dr Manzoor Memon.
The lone survivor of the targeted attack, Salma, fights for her life at the hospital. She is a widow and the only source of income for her three daughters and a son. Salma was shot once in each arm while one of the bullets also pierced her chest. “Her condition is stable now,” said Dr Memon.
Salma’s family are in shock. “What was her fault? Why was she attacked?” questioned her daughter, Hina, hysterically.
| Because she was doing good in the world... |
Polio workers have announced to boycott the campaign across Sindh. They will not participate in the drive today (Wednesday).
“We will not continue the campaign. We were assured by the government regarding security measures but they have failed us,” said the president of Lady Health Workers’ Association, Bushra Arain.
“We will register an FIR against the information minister,” Arain told The Express Tribune. She blamed the Sindh government for the attack, adding that it had failed to provide adequate security to health workers despite repeated assurances.
“Memon had said that our workers would be given security but it was a false statement,” she contended.
“Our female workers are not ready to go into the field in such a situation. The government should make an alternative plan. Parents could come to centres to get their children vaccinated. We can’t keep risking our lives for just Rs250,” said Arain.
She also demanded the government to compensate the deceased workers, adding that their families should also be given jobs.