Nepal suicide rate highlighted
15/07/2010
The community of Ilam in the east of Nepal is struggling with high rates of suicide which have left the act seemingly a part of normal life for many.
According to Wave magazine, statistics reveal that over the past eight years, nearly 500 people in Ilam have committed suicide. This year so far, 60 people have taken their own lives and local DSP Tei Jung Thapa told the source that suicide "has almost become normal" in the town.
Efforts from local police to lower the rates, including large billboards dotted around and the introduction of the Awareness against Suicide program, seem to have had little impact.
One of the most shocking suicides of all was that of Yan Bahadur Siwahoti, who was actually an anti-suicide campaigner, the source noted.
Triggers to the high rate of suicide could include unemployment and poverty. Nepal is one of the poorest nations in Asia with over 30 per cent of its population living below the poverty line.
Written by Dan Parr.
