Though suicide rate has been very in Chitral in recent years, but after the recent flash floods that have multiplied people’s woes, the cases of suicides have further increased in the hilly region. Despite the increase of literacy rate as compared to past, the suicide rate is on the rise with the passage of time in Chitral, posing as dilemma for the authorities and researches.

Most importantly, the suicidal tendencies are equally frequent among men, women and teenagers of this far-flung mountainous region and it is mainly the youth who are committing suicides so there is obviously something wrong with the social and economic spheres in Chitral that is taking toll on the lives of its people for decades. In the wake of frequent suicide issues in Chitral, there is an urgent need for finding out the reasons behind these gruesome incidents every now and then and such the government in collaboration with the NGOs should ensure a thorough research on the issue which has risen to alarming level. 

It is very unfortunate that hundreds rather thousands of people have lost lives in Chitral due to suicide during the last two decades and with the passage of time, the rate is further accelerating but till now no preventive measures have been adopted by the either the Federal, or the provincial and even the district government to find out the causes behind increasing cases of suicide by young men and women and form a preventive strategy. As per available reports, two different cases of suicide by women have been reported during the first week of the current month.

In the first case, a 20 year young woman from  Kushum village took her life by jumping into Chitral river  while in a similar case reported later, another woman committed suicide recently. Last month, a dead body of young woman who had committed suicide by jumping into Chitral river near Broze point was recovered from waters in Arandu area of Chitral. Not only women are committing suicide, the trend is equally common among men, and even teenage students from Chitral area.

A local Chitral daily, quoting a research study, reported this year that between 2005-2015, around 369 cases of suicide were reported in district Ghizer of Chitral.  In July this year, a teenage boy committed suicide in Sahen area of Ayun.  Separately, a student from Chitral who was studying at Islamia College Peshawar committed Suicide in Hostel Room. He was a student of BS Mathematics and obviously there was no issue with him, even his college mates and teachers did not notice he was undergoing any mental stress etc. The student had also complained of any problem or mental stress with his teachers or co-students.

Like women and students, young Chitrali men are also prone to suicide incidents and in June this year, young man of 30 years age took his life by jumping into the Chitral river at Osiak. However, when analyzing the overall suicide rate, it is mainly women who take their lives frequently and according to available researches, Chitral has seen increasing suicide cases among young woman, who form 78 per cent of all suicide cases in the area. 

One study shows that about 150 women jumped into river Chitral or took poisonous pills or hanged themselves to death in a span of seven years i.e., from 2010 to 2017. There are also some other studies like the one done by the Aga Khan Rural Support programme which conducted a study on the subject in 2008 and it had found that as many 28 women committed suicide in a single year. To find out the main problems that prompt women to jump into rivers so frequently, more studies are needed to determine the real causes behind this heinous practice. One way to do so is to talk to the survivors of attempted suicide cases, who can narrate the ordeals due to which they had attempted to end their lives. Sometime back, an NGO working in the area used this method and talked to one Naghma Pari, a survivor of attempted suicide, This 21-year-old girl hailing from a small village in Lower Chitral had disclosed that it were mainly the economic miseries which prompted her to make an attempt at her own life. 

She also disclosed forced marriages to be a reason behind such cases.  Accoridng to Pari, was married off at the young age of 13 against her will as she was too young and the main reason for her marriage was the poverty and destitution. She spent an impoverished life in her parents home as they were poor people and after marriage she imbroglio into daily domestic disputes with her in-laws, who were also poor people and were living in abject poverty which led her to make an attempt on her own life as she thought it was the only way to get rid of the miserable life. Moreover, her husband was thrice of her age and the age difference was also an issue.

At local level, the District government has established a special police desk for women to approach this desk in time of any emergency for solution of their disputes without any hesitation as female staff has been deployed to listen to their problems and solve them accordingly. Chitrali women are very shy in facing male members of the society but it is hoped that after the formation of this Special Desk for them, they will not hesitate from approaching the authorities for solution of their problems.

This special desk provides legal help and also refers their cases to Jirga for solution on the spot. On the average, the Special Desk receives around two hundred cases of disputes. And most importantly, the disputes are concerning issues like divorce, sexual harassment, inheritance and property issues, forced and under age marriages and domestic violence. 

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 12 2022

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