346 people committed suicide in Malakand in last eight months

MALAKAND: In the last eight months, 346 people have committed suicide over in seven districts of Malakand division.

According to police sources, majority of the reported suicides cases were women. 

Swat had the highest number of suicides with 222 cases being reported in the last eight months. While 73 people committed suicide in Buner, 26 in Shangla, 15 in Lower Dir and nine in Chitral, police sources said.

Further, the police sources said that one case was reported in Upper Dir, while 33 people were reported to have committed suicide in the Mitta district.

Police said domestic issues and unemployment were mainly the reasons behind the suicides. 

Last month, the KP government had sprung into action after an increase in the number of suicide cases in Chitral. 

KP govt to probe rising number of suicide cases in Chitral

Chitral district health officer wrote to KP health dept, which formed a committee to investigate the issue

The provincial government had decided to form a committee to investigate the matter. 

Chitral district nazim Maghfirat Shah said, during the last six months, more than 12 people reportedly committed suicide, out of which 70 per cent were women. 

A study from 2016 published in Khyber Medical University Journal states, that women had almost double the rate of suicide than men in Chitral. As per the findings, the cause was family and marital issues while the methods used included drowning and hanging.

The study further stated that the suicide rate among married women was high. According to the findings, women committed suicide because of their unhappy marriages – their unstable relationship with their spouses making it difficult for them to manage personal and household responsibilities.

The disharmony in marriage continued as the girls’ parents seldom supported them, neither was there any option for divorce, which left suicide as the only way out, according to the study.