KHUJAND, June 19, 2009, Asia-Plus — In the northern Sughd province, the number of suicides and suicide attempts rose 66.1 percent over the first five months of this year compared to the same period of 2008, reaching 113, Rahimjon Abduvaliyev, an official with the Khujand police department, remarked at a roundtable meeting entitled “Problems of Suicide in Tajikistan and Possible Ways of Solution” in Khujand on June 18.
Abduvaliyev noted that those 113 registered cases included 74 suicides and 39 suicide attempts. “51 women, 50 men and 12 minors have killed themselves or attempted to commit suicide over the report period,” the Khujand police official said.
Organized by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) Office in Tajikistan, the meeting was held in the framework of the Europe Union project, Protection of Human Rights and Human Rights Education through Media. The meeting participants included representatives of local authorities, law enforcement agencies and public organizations as well as clerics, experts and journalists.
The main objective of the meeting was in seeking ways to stem an increase in the number of suicides in the area.
According to Abduvaliyev, significant increase in the number of suicide cases has been reported in the cities of Panjakent, Konibodom and Khujand as well as the Shahriston district.
The meeting participants decided to intensify educative work among youth and to get population involved in work to reveal problem families, members of which are potential high-risk groups, etc.
Local experts name economic and family problems as factors that contribute to increase in the number of suicides in the province. According to them, suicide rates are high among women because of unchecked domestic abuse and because victims are unaware they have a right to legal redress if they are assaulted in the home.
