This solar year, 470 people attempted suicide in Herat

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): At least 470 people were delivered at the zonal hospital in western Herat province after attempting suicide this solar year, with 20 losing their lives, officials at the hospital said Monday.

Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai, the spokesman of Herat Zonal Hospital, told Pajhwok Afghan News that 70 percent of the suicide attempts were made by women and 30 percent by young men.

He linked the extreme step to forced and underage marriages, domestic violence, baad marriages, illiteracy, poverty, mental illnesses, broken love affairs and drug addiction.

Sherzai said the suicide attempts involved self-immolation, using Diazepam drug, Tramadol, poison and weapons.

The number of suicide attempts decreased this year from last year’s 700 attempts in Herat.  Of them 20 lost lives last year.

A number of young women expressed concern over the increasing suicide tendency among women and said domestic violence and forced marriages were the root cause of such problems.

Aziza, 23, a resident of Herat, said: “Women face more mental health issues, they are pressured by families in some cases and not allowed to go to school or university, underage or forced marriages are other factors behind suicide attempts in women.”

Susan, another girl, said, “Most of suicide cases involve ordinary people. Awareness through elders is the only way to prevent this phenomenon.”

Gulsom Seddiqi, a women rights activist, said that bad cultures, lack of legal, psychological and cultural counseling in schools and universities contributed to suicide cases in Afghanistan particularly in Herat.

Islamic scholars in Herat term suicide as forbidden in Islam.

Sayed Mohammad Shirazi, an Islamic scholar in Herat, said such cases should be seriously followed by the government and the women affairs ministry.

“A deep research is needed about suicide cases, committing suicide is forbidden in Islam and those who kill self violate the rules of God.” he said.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics in 2015, 800,000 people commit suicide worldwide. But there are no exact figures for suicide cases in Afghanistan.

mds/ma