After surviving ‘poisonous liquor’ Shahzad Masih pledges not to drink again

PESHAWAR: Shahzad Masih who miraculously survived after drinking ‘poisonous liquor’ has promised to abstain from indulging in such activities in future.

“My three brothers-in-law Victor Masih, Qaiser Masih and Nasir Masih and his son Kamal Masih and friend Raja Masih died after drinking poisonous liquor. I was the only one who survived,” he told The News on Wednesday.

“I have pledged not to drink liquor or take any other intoxicant in future. I have promised our priest, wife and relatives that I won’t touch these things again,” he stressed. “Meri toba, meri toba,” he remarked in Urdu while touching his ears in a gesture of seeking forgiveness.

“Since we are poor and couldn’t afford to buy good quality liquor, we purchased spirit and mixed it with a carbonated drink to get high. We cannot even afford the cheaper ‘desi sharab’ available in Jamrud in Khyber Agency,” he said.

“We had no proper place to enjoy so we drank under the open sky in Peshawar Saddar area,” Shahzad Masih said.He said, “After drinking this concoction, we left for our homes in the Swati Gate locality but our condition started deteriorating and we were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital.”

Kamal Masih was the first one to die followed by Victor Masih, Nasir Masih and Raja Masih. However, Sagir Masih, the son of Nasir Masih, drank the ‘poisonous liquor’ in a bid to commit suicide after the death of his father and uncle. “He said there is no use living after the death of his father,” Shahzad Masid recalled.

According to Shahzad Masih, he survived because he started vomiting after drinking the ‘spirit’. However, he said it affected his eyesight badly and was now in need of treatment by an eye specialist.

Shahzad Masih, who has been discharged from hospital and is now back home,  said he purchased the ‘spirit’ from a medicine shop in the Peshawar Cantonment. He said he purchased ‘China cuppa’ for Rs45, a kind of homeopathic medicine used for addiction.

The poor Christians, he said, purchased ‘China cuppa’ from shops in Saddar and Hashtnagri. It is astonishing to note that this is not the kind of spirit that is used for cleaning wounds. Rather it is used for polishing wooden furniture.

“I was once put behind bars for possessing a bottle of spirit,” he said.Shahzad Masih said the government should declare the sale of this kind of spirit as illegal to prevent its misuse. “The police should arrest those selling spirit to save people from getting killed,” he added.

Shahzad Masih, who works as a sanitation worker at the Peshawar Museum, asked the government to provide him a residential quarter as he had applied for it three years back.He said he cannot afford to live in a rented house and also support his wife and five children, including one who is disabled. “I have to work in the offices of private companies to make both ends meet,” he added. Those wishing to help Shahzad Masih could contact him on his cell number 03420935334.