Two studies blame poverty, depression and domestic abuse for rising suicides in Tharparkar

Two recently released reports have highlighted an alarming rise in suicide cases in Tharparkar, especially among women and members of the Hindu community. The reports have recommended that the Sindh government set up emergency crisis services and psychological care facilities, and work on poverty reduction through economic development by engaging the needy youth in the impoverished district.

AWARE, a local community-based organisation in Tharparkar, released this week the statistics of suicides in the district in 2021 and discussed reasons behind the worrying increase in the trend.

A shocking number of 115 persons killed themselves in the seven talukas of Tharparkar during 2021, according to the statistics compiled by AWARE, using secondary data, mainly local newspapers.

Nagarparkar

At least 27 cases of deaths from suicides in 2021 were reported from Nagarparkar, the most impoverished taluka with the least literacy and highest poverty rate compared to the other six talukas of the district. The AWARE report says that the incidents of suicide were most prevalent among the Kohlis, a scheduled caste community, and the main reasons behind the suicides were domestic and social issues.

Chachro

In Chachro taluka, at least 27 people, of whom 10 were women, committed suicide in 2021. One of the main reasons for the suicides was low income and food insecurity.

“Residents of the area are predominantly dependent on agriculture and livestock for livelihoods. Most of the villages are scattered and many of the cases of the suicide go unreported,” the report observes. “People don’t have alternative livelihood sources. They have no access to nearby towns and cities for daily wages due to lack of transport facilities.”

Islamkot

In Islamkot taluka, at least 13 people committed suicide in 2021. The report said that the tehsil had natural resources like coal, but the ratio of suicide was high because of poverty, domestic violence and other issues.

“The vicious cycle of borrowing money, lack of income, lack of food availability and no prospects for the future has created an atmosphere of hopelessness,” reads the report.

Mithi

Mithi is the district headquarters where at least 15 cases of deaths because of suicide were reported during the last year. The report observes that the taluka mainly comprises urban areas and people who killed themselves were educated. It adds that the main reason behind suicides in Mithi was domestic violence.

Dahli, Diplo and Kolai

At least three people committed suicide in Dahli taluka in 2021. Discussing the less number of suicides in the taluka, the AWARE report notes that the taluka lies on the road to Umerkot and most of the people can perform daily-wage labour easily. Most of the people in the taluka, according to the report, belong to middle class Muslim and Hindu families.

In Diplo taluka, six people killed themselves, whereas, in Kolai taluka, two cases of suicide were reported in 2021.

‘Suicide Autopsy’

Another report has been released by the Sindh police after Mirpurkhas DIG Zulfiqar Mahar constituted a seven-member committee on ‘Suicide Autopsy’ to examine the reasons for suicide in Tharparkar district.

The committee comprised stakeholders belonging to civil society and the police department. The body was also tasked with conducting examination of some suicide cases. Watta Satta (exchange) marriages, forced marriages, social transformation, low income and loan repayment procedures, sexual exploitation, drug addiction and depression were cited as some of the main reasons behind the rise in deaths due to suicide in Tharparkar district, the committee stated in its report.

In September, a man threw his three minor sons into a deep well before committing suicide in the same manner in Chachro. The committee found that a Watta Satta (exchange) marriage had occurred in the family who were landless peasants surviving on goat rearing.

In two separate suicide cases, the report found that two men who had killed themselves were feeling suspicious of their wives, one of whom worked in a local company as a driver and the other in an NGO.

Recommendations

Both the studies have recommended the Sindh government to establish a psycho-social rehabilitation centre in the region for people facing depression, hopelessness, and disinterest in life, and provide financial and moral support to the needy persons at the health units at the village, taluka, and district levels.

AWARE in its report urged the authorities to promote handicrafts of Thari people, provide interest-free loans to their youth and build resilience through establishing kitchen gardening at the household level.

The Suicide Autopsy committee asked the police to investigate the cases and called for reviewing the Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A committee of relevant stakeholders should also be constituted by a senior police official in the district for proper examination of socio-economic reasons behind the suicide cases.

The seven-member committee also recommended that funds should be allocated to police stations so that they could go for chemical analysis of the deceased in suicide cases.

It was also recommended that a mortuary should be established in the district to keep the bodies for investigation and unidentified bodies should also be preserved so that communities and NADRA officials could verify their identity.