Alarming: In Chitral, forced marriages force women to take their lives in 2010-11
30 is the number of women who committed suicide in 2010-11 in Chitral.
CHITRAL:
The number of women who committed suicide in Chitral in 2010-11 has risen alarmingly in the history, stated a report released by a local non-governmental organisation.
Of the 30 women who ended their lives in the past two years, only 18 cases were reported to the police, while five women attempted suicide during this period, according to the Human Rights Programme Chitral (HRPC).
Three incidents of abduction were also reported in 2010-11, which is likewise unprecedented in the district.
The number of incidents of suicide committed by men reported to the police were also low. Of the 13 men who took their own lives in 2010-11 was only six.
The actual number of women who were killed or who committed suicide was much higher, but most of these incidents were missed by the police and journalists, because families attempt to conceal the actual cause of death, according to HRPC Chairperson Niaz A Niazi.
Women are forced to end their lives when they see no way out of their miseries, he said.
There is no formal system through which women can register their complaints in Chitral district.
A large majority of women had committed suicide because they were forced to marry against their will or were subjected to sexual abuse and blackmail, he said.
“Women dare not disclose their concerns to their families.” The fact that there are no women’s police stations or shelter homes in the entire Chitral district which compounds problems for women in distress, he added.
Niazi has called upon the police to thoroughly investigate each incident of murder or suicide to prevent families from passing off murders of women as suicide in an attempt to protect their ‘honour’.
HRPC is working for human rights in the backward Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which also provides legal aid to victims.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2012.
The number of women who committed suicide in Chitral in 2010-11 has risen alarmingly in the history, stated a report released by a local non-governmental organisation.
Of the 30 women who ended their lives in the past two years, only 18 cases were reported to the police, while five women attempted suicide during this period, according to the Human Rights Programme Chitral (HRPC).
Three incidents of abduction were also reported in 2010-11, which is likewise unprecedented in the district.
The number of incidents of suicide committed by men reported to the police were also low. Of the 13 men who took their own lives in 2010-11 was only six.
The actual number of women who were killed or who committed suicide was much higher, but most of these incidents were missed by the police and journalists, because families attempt to conceal the actual cause of death, according to HRPC Chairperson Niaz A Niazi.
Women are forced to end their lives when they see no way out of their miseries, he said.
There is no formal system through which women can register their complaints in Chitral district.
A large majority of women had committed suicide because they were forced to marry against their will or were subjected to sexual abuse and blackmail, he said.
“Women dare not disclose their concerns to their families.” The fact that there are no women’s police stations or shelter homes in the entire Chitral district which compounds problems for women in distress, he added.
Niazi has called upon the police to thoroughly investigate each incident of murder or suicide to prevent families from passing off murders of women as suicide in an attempt to protect their ‘honour’.
HRPC is working for human rights in the backward Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which also provides legal aid to victims.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2012.