DHANGADHI, Jan 24: The number of suicide cases has been increasing at an alarming rate in Sudur Paschim Province.
The statistics show that three persons have been committing suicide every four days. Though the number of suicide cases is increasing every year, the government has not been effective to reduce the number of suicides in the region.
According to Prof Hemraj Panta of Kailali Multiple Campus, financial and social conditions are the reasons behind increasing instances of suicides in the province. “Due to the poor financial conditions and other reasons, youths have suffered from depression, which has led to suicide,” Panta said, adding that the increasing suicide rate is a major social problem. He further added that counseling sessions should be conducted from the school level to tackle the problem.
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Likewise, Dharma Raj Pathak, a civil society leader, said that mental disorder is the major reason behind increase in suicide cases. “Mental disorders are the reason behind 25 to 30 percent of suicidal cases,” he added.
According to the statistics compiled by Sudur Paschim Province Police Office, more than one person commit suicide in the province every day.
The data shows that a total of 432 individuals committed suicide in the Fiscal Year 2016/2017. Likewise, a total of 499 individuals and 503 individuals committed suicide in the Fiscal Year 2017/2018 and Fiscal Year 2018/2019, respectively. On an average, at least four persons have committed suicide every three days.
Likewise, in the first six months of the current fiscal year, a total of 208 individuals have already committed suicide in the province.
According to DIG Tarani Prasad Lamsal, chief of Sudur Paschim Provincial Police Office, suicide cases have been increasing at an alarming rate in the province. “As mental disorders are ignored, instances of suicide are increasing in the province,” he said, adding that proper counseling should be provided to the patients with mental disorder. He further added that people have been committing suicide by hanging and by consuming poison.
Of the nine districts in the province, the number of suicide cases is the highest in Kailali district. Of the 208 suicidal cases in the province this year so far, 87 were recorded in Kailali district alone. Likewise, 66 cases were recorded in Kanchanpur, 14 in Bajhang, six in Accham, five in Doti, and nine each in Bajura and Baitadi.
“Mental disorders, lack of awareness, among others are the reasons behind the increasing number of suicides in the province,” Prof Panta said, adding that the government should introduce counseling programs to tackle the problem. He also said that employment creation, poverty alleviation will also be helpful in reducing increasing suicide cases in the province.
