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| Experts link suicides in Kashmir to depression | | `66% victims are women' | |
Majid Ahmad
srinagar, Feb 16: There has been alarming increase in the number of people committing suicides in Kashmir over the last one and half decade. Statistics reveal suicides have claimed the second highest number of human lives in Kashmir following armed turmoil. It has also been found that most of the people who commit suicides were females and young people.
The actual number of suicide cases is much higher than reported as in several cases the suicides aren't reported by the relatives due to social and religious stigma attached to it. A survey carried by experts a few years back reveals the number of unreported cases is equally high and could be around fifty percent of reported ones.
The survey also indicates that 66 percent of people attempting suicide were young females. About the socio-economic conditions, the survey reveals that 82 percent belonged to lower and lower middle income groups.
The ratio of suicide in rural and urban areas, as per the survey is 85 and 15 respectively. The proportion of illiterate and literate victims has been 40 and 60. A total of 76.92 percent people committing suicide were within the age group of 16 to 25 years.
Saima (name changed), a 36-year-old woman from Islamabad district belonged to a poor family. Her brother was a militant and was killed by security forces a few years back. The growing age and delayed marriage finally took toll on her psyche. Unable to cope with the trauma she suffered with depression and finally ended her life by consuming some toxic substance.
She was one among the hundreds of people who try to commit suicide in Kashmir each year.
Nusrat (name changed) a post graduate student from downtown Srinagar tried to end her life after failing to get a job. However, she was lucky that her mother came to know and she was removed to hospital immediately.
Being eldest of four sisters and a younger brother, her father was killed by unidentified gunmen 15 years back. She took the drastic step after she couldn't get any job, which has these days become a pre-requisite to get a good match.
The modus operandi in most of the attempted suicides is similar. It has been observed that most of the cases coming from rural areas are of people who have consumed pesticides or insecticides, which is readily available in almost all the homes here.
On an average, Valley's two main hospitals - SMHS and SKIMS - receive two to three attempted suicide cases every day. A large number of people, mostly from countryside, don't even reach the hospitals - they die on the way or in local hospitals.
Dr Mushtaq Margoob, Valley's leading psychiatrist said, "Violence-induced trauma, unemployment, failed love affairs, psychiatric disorders, family feuds, tough competition, fear, stress and tension are some of the reasons for increase in suicide attempts."
Dr Margoob says suicides were rare in Kashmir before 1990, but after the onset of conflict, there has been sudden increase in the suicides.
In a publication Dr Margoob and his team in 2004, described 41 suicide cases. Most of them were females from rural areas in the age group of 21-35 years, 87% of them without any earlier psychiatric disorder.
Giving reasons about increasing rate of suicides among youth, Dr Margoob said, "Youth are more vulnerable to suicides as they have grown up in disturbance of the last more than two decades. They feel, they don't get what they deserve which leads to depression. There are many youth who feel they are failures. Career was always priority in family in Kashmir but now it has become tension in family. Parents force their wards for getting better grades which is dangerous."
"Parents should take threat of suicide seriously and not as joke," he added.
Regarding the trend of increased suicide rate in women, Dr Margoob said, "Female gender in general and young women in particular continue to be discriminated in the society especially in lower socio-economic groups to which most of the suicide cases belong." |
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