GB suicide cases on the rise

ISLAMABAD: The suicide cases in Gilgit-Baltistan are on the rise again, as the number doubled when compared with the year 2023.

The decreasing trend witnessed in suicide cases in Gilgit-Baltistan from 2020 to 2023 was reversed as total reported cases in 2024 doubled up to 89 against 44 in 2023.

Forty-four cases of suicides were reported from GB during 2023, which were almost 9pc less than the number in 2022.

The year 2021 witnessed 58 cases, which were nearly 7pc less than those occurred in 2020. In 2020, a total of 74 cases of suicides were reported from GB. Eighty-five suicides were reported from GB and KP in 2019 out of 89 in the whole country. In 2018, suicide cases reported from KP and GB were 73.

However, criminology experts are of the view the number of suicide cases is small if compared to actual number which is never reported. According to official crime statistics data shared with The News by sources, the number of suicide cases during the past year was recorded as 104.

Out of the total suicide cases, 89 were reported from Gilgit-Baltistan. Nine were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas Balochistan recorded four cases and one case each from Punjab and Azad Jammu Kashmir in 2024.

No suicide case was reported from Islamabad and Sindh in 2024. Most of the attempts to suicide were reported from Punjab, followed by Azad Jammu Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.

A total of 168 attempts to suicide were reported from across Pakistan in 2024. Out of these, 59 were from Punjab, the highest. In Azad Jammu Kashmir, 50 suicide attempts were made last year, while 34 were recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In Sindh, 21 attempts were made, while four were reported from Balochistan. No attempted suicide case was reported from GB and Islamabad.