A 13-year-old Pakistani scholarship boy has died after setting fire to himself because his mother was too poor to buy him a new school uniform, his family said Monday.
Kamran Khan, who was top of his class four years running in the northwestern town of Shabqadar, doused himself in kerosene on March 24 after an argument with his mother over a new uniform.
He suffered more than 50 percent burns and died five days later, having been moved to a military hospital for specialist treatment. His family had begged villagers for the money needed to pay the hospital, his brother told AFP.
The case highlights the desperate poverty suffered by millions of people in Pakistan, where record price hikes are squeezing all but the very wealthiest minority.
Khan was desperate to get a new shalwar khamis and do away with his tatty old white tunic and trousers, his brother said.
“My brother became the victim of poverty.
He asked our mother to get him a new uniform but she told him to wait, he got emotional and set fire to himself,” the 16-year-old brother Saleem told AFP.
Their father went to Saudi Arabia three months ago looking for a job but had so far been unable to find work and has not sent any money home.
Zakir Hussein, head teacher at the private English-language Mohmand Educational Academy, 140 kilometres (90 miles) from the capital Islamabad, described Khan as a “brilliant” all-round scholarship student.
“We thought he will earn a major distinction for the school one day. That is why he was being given free classes and books,” said Hussein.