As many as 2,507 people committed suicide while another 1,634 attempted to end their lives in different parts of the country during the year 2004. Of 2,507, who committed suicide, 1,361 were male and 753 female. During the year, 230 male children and 163 female children ended their lives, a report compiled by Madadgar, a helpline run by Lawyers for Human Rights & Legal Aid (LHRLA), revealed.
The age-wise break-up shows that out of 2,507 committed suicides, 339 cases were of the age group of 5 to 18 years, 481 of 18 to 25 years, 190 of 26 to 35 years, 115 of 36 to 50 years and 58 cases of older than 50 years.
Of the 4,141 cases of attempted and committed suicides, 2,041 were reported from Sindh, 1,757 from Punjab, 243 from the NWFP and 100 from Balochistan.
The city-wise data shows that the highest number of attempted and committed suicide cases-611 in a year were reported in Karachi followed by Lahore 538 cases, Hyderabad 162 cases, Gujranwala 140, Dadu 136, Ferozewala 82, Larkana 74, Peshawar 69, Tando Adam 63, Gujrat 59, Khairpur 56, Rawalpindi 50, Quetta 50, Multan 48, Faisalabad 45, Digri 36, Hala 36, Mirpurkhas 35, Sukkur 33, Islamabad 32, Sargodha 24, Sahiwal 24, Mardan 20, Mailsi 17, Thatta 15, Bannu 15 while 14 each in Chitral, Shahdadpur and Hafizabad.
The report says that out of 2,507 suicide cases, 162 were reported in January, 171 in February, 180 in March, 165 in April, 178 in May, 306 in June, 280 in July, 315 in August, 214 in September, 203 in October, 169 in November and 164 in December 2004.
The 1,634 attempted suicide cases include 108 in January, 125 in February, 122 in March, 129 in April, 68 in May, 141 in June, 174 in July, 203 in August, 148 in September, 158 in October, 141 in November and 117 in December.
CAUSES: The study says that 683 cases were the result of personal disappointment, 914 of domestic dispute, 511 of family dispute, 112 of petty issues, 299 of unemployment, 83 of depression, 140 of pre-marital rejection, 130 of economic constraints, 46 of poverty, 21 of drug addiction, 32 of police injustice, 85 of scolding by parents, 81 of mentally deranged and 40 of prolonged illness.
The methods used for committing suicide were consuming poison in 1,956 cases, pesticides in 420 cases, gunshot in 428 cases, drowning in 77 cases, hanging in 523 cases, self-immolation in 242 cases, organ slit in 88 cases, jumping in front of vehicles/trains in 86 cases, electrocution in 29 cases and drug overdose in 22 cases.