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104 suicides in 5 months ring alarm bells

KATHMANDU, JAN 03 -
The increasing number of suicides in the Kathmandu Valley is ringing alarm bells for the government, calling for an immediate measure to tackle the growing act of killing intentionally. If police records are anything to go by, the Valley saw 104 suicides just within the last five-month period.

According to the Metropolitan Police Division, 104 suicide cases were registered in six police circles of the Valley between the Nepali months of Shrawan and mid-Poush. The data puts the number of suicides in Shrawan at 23, Bhadra 32, Ashoj 15 and Kartik 16, Mangsir 18. The division says suicide cases are increasing in Kathmandu.

Out of the total suicides, 57 people hanged themselves, 41 drank poison, four set themselves on fire, and two fell to death. Police had recorded 262 suicides from July 2010 to June 2011, an increase by 12 from 250 in the previous one year period.

Dhiraj Pratap Singh, spokesperson of the Hanumandhoka Metropolitan Police Range, said the rate of suicide in Kathmandu has increased over the years.

According to police, frustration, unemployment, academic failure, unrequited romantic ideals, family conflict, and poverty are the major causes for the increase in suicides.

Sociologists say the government must bring in a mental health policy to control the increasing suicides and include mental health courses in the curriculum. There are four kinds of suicide—egoistic, ultraistic, anomic and fatalistic, said sociologist Raju KC of Padmakanya Campus. “Personal background of people in relation to the society is directly linked with the suicidal tendency.”

Unlike the worldwide trend, more male are committing suicide in Nepal. “Most suicide causes are the outcomex of traumatic depression and frustration,” said Dhurba Man Shrestha, a psychiatrist at Nepal Medical College.

Posted on: 2012-01-04 09:34

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