According to details five women with ages ranging from 30 to 45 years threw themselves into a nearby canal after arguing with their father in Mailsi, a town in the rural southern part of Punjab province.
One of the five sisters was pulled alive from the water.
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"A poor farmer, Bashir Ahmed Rajput, could not marry his five daughters because he had no money to offer dowry," Malik Daud Hasnain, a senior police official said.
"After an argument on the issue on Thursday, his daughters became desperate and jumped together into a water canal."
The women were aged 45, 43, 38, 35 and 31.
"The youngest sister was rescued in time whereas dead bodies of two others have been recovered. The search for the remaining bodies is on," Hasnain said.
Dowry for weddings is a serious issue for poor families in the subcontinent and many women are unable to marry because their relatives cannot afford the gifts and money demanded by grooms' families.
In Pakistan, the usual age for a woman to get married is between 18 and 28 and anyone older faces difficulties finding a match.
Unmarried older women face scorn from neighbours and relatives and -- with no husband to support them financially -- poverty and destitution. (AFP)-
