Suicides on the rise in Swabi district

Over a dozen people, including five women, have taken their own lives so far this year

SWABI:

Suicides have been on the rise in Swabi district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) as over one dozen cases have been recorded with police in the past three months of this year.

Depression, unemployment and domestic disputes are said to be the main reasons of these suicides.

The data obtained by The Express Tribune shows that five women have also ended their lives this year.

“Pesticides are generally consumed by women to commit suicides as they are easily available in every household,” said a police official, adding that men also use it.

“Men in majority cases use a hand gun to end their lives,” he observed.

On Friday two people committed suicides in Swabi.

In Thand Koi village, a schoolteacher Altamas Khan took his own life by consuming highly poisonous pesticides. He died on the spot.

In a separate incident, a dental technician Aziz Ahmad committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in Marghaz village. He was posted at basic health unit in Kota and was considered very religious.

Both the death shocked the local residents as both of them belonged to good families.

A police official said that suicide rate in the women was also alarming as among the one dozen suicide victims, five were women.

“Women are considered more sensitive than men and they often take the extreme step due to domestic tension, abuse and other such things,” he argued.

Local residents demanded of the government to take notice of the situation and arrange psychotherapy of such people in order to control the situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2023.