When dying is so much more easier than living

Muhammad Baksh, 40, shot himself point blank in the head after six months of continued unemployment.

With a family of six and no job, Muhammad Baksh, 40, was under a lot of stress. Six months of continued unemployment had forced the former salesman to take loans from his friends, with no means of paying them off. On March 9, Baksh decided to take matters into his own hands. He shot himself point blank in the head. His eldest son, 14, was left behind to fend for the family.

Baksh, who was under heavy debt, happened to be one of 15 suicide cases reported from different areas of Islamabad in the past one year, according to data collected by The Express Tribune. This brought the total number of reported suicides to 65 in the past five years.

Though limited by a wall of secrecy surrounding most reported suicides, a majority of these cases were suspected to be triggered by financial problems.

Another man, Abid Ali Rana, a 30-year-old businessman from Sihala, killed himself on March 11. His family refused to offer any insights into his desperate act but the investigation officer Rashid Ali suspected he was heavily indebted.

No suicide cases were reported from the posh areas of Islamabad in the past one year, leading some experts to believe that the financial viability of the upper class helps them cope better with their problems. Dr Rizwan Taj, a psychiatrist from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences said, “Upper class is protected against economic shocks. It is natural that the trend of committing suicide among people from this segment is lower than others,” he said.

Another reason that forced people to extreme measures was love. Faisal Mehmood, 25, from Ghausia Mohala near ICT shot himself in the head on May 16. His brother believes rejection by the girl he loved triggered an otherwise normal engineering student to kill himself.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2010.