‘Excessive use of ice’ kills man, woman in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The increasing use of drugs among the youth continues to claim lives as a man and a woman were found dead in a house in Jabba Sohail area while another was rushed to hospital on Sunday.

Police investigators believe the two died due to the excessive use of ice (meth) during their stay at the guestroom of a mechanic in the area.

Police officials said the body of Umar Sajjad of Shaheen Town and a woman, Ayesha, of Charsadda, was found in a house in Jabba Sohail in the limits of the Agha Mir Jani Shah Police Station. "The owner of the house Asif was unconscious and was taken to hospital. Police have sent the bodies for the postmortem and started investigation to find the cause of the death," Superintendent of Police (SP) City Peshawar, Shahzada Kokab Farooq, told The News.

He added that the eyewitness is still unconscious while the medical reports are awaited to confirm as to what was the cause of the death. "The evidence, however, collected from the spot suggest that they died due to overdose of drugs," said Kokab Farooq. The SP city said that Umar and Ayesha had come to Asif late Saturday night. "Father of Asif told police that he asked his son about the two but he said they are his guests and he usually repairs vehicle of Umar. The father said Asif told him they are leaving in a while," said the police official. He added that the father knocked at the door of the guesthouse early in the morning while going for Fajr prayers, but nobody responded.

Later, when they broke open the door, the two had died while Asif was unconscious but still alive and was taken to hospital. Police said the woman who was found dead belonged to Charsadda and had married a resident of Bannu but they separated later. Her mother told police that she used to tell the family that she works at a local beauty parlor.

The use of ice and other drugs among the youth, especially women, has reached an alarming level in different parts of Peshawar and rest of the country. Police and other agencies have launched a number of campaigns against the sellers and smugglers of ice and other drugs. However, the number of users is increasing.

A young woman, Sapna, was found dead in the fields of Pawaka village a few days ago. Police later discovered that the woman was an ice addict and had been sent to the rehabilitation centre recently. However, the family later brought her home, after which her body was found in the fields. The police later arrested one of the cousins of the woman for allegedly killing her.