Death by suicide
Sunday Crime by Jayampathy Jayasinghe
It is a frightening scenario to note that the number of people who
commit suicide in Sri Lanka have surpassed the number of people who die
in motor vehicle accidents or those who meet with violent deaths as a
result of being shot or stabbed by criminal elements.
 What is shocking is that the victims are not always the uneducated
type as often portrayed in the media but professionals as well who
belong to the category of doctors, accountants, engineers as well.
Others fall into the category of administrative executives, managers,
clerical workers, stenographers, craftsmen and labourers.
The usual method of committing suicide was by swallowing
insecticides, jumping into wells or rivers, by using firearms, jumping
before moving trains, swallowing acids, setting themselves on fire,
consuming natural poisons etc. Few others commit suicide by injecting
narcotics and resorting to other methods.
Statistics compiled by the police department show that 1776 males and
457 females committed suicide during the period 1.1.2006 -30.6.2006.
Figures show that the majority of men (1018) and women (202) had
committed suicide by swallowing pesticides during this period. Death by
strangulation falls into the second category where 494 men and 84 women
committed suicide by hanging themselves.
People commit suicide for various reasons like being due to abject
poverty, unemployment, old age, harassment by husbands and family
disputes, love affairs, grief over death of loved ones, loss of
property, mental disorders and chronic diseases etc. People who suffered
from chronic diseases committed the highest number of suicides during
the first half of this year. There were 305 males and 58 females who
committed suicide.
A number of suicides over love affairs were reported this year. The
number of men who committed suicides over love affairs up to June this
year were 129, while the number of females were 77. The most recent
suicide was reported from Chillaw last week, where a couple had checked
into a hotel room on 16th.
The man was a married person (20), a tractor driver who had an
illicit affair with another married woman (20) from Nathandiya. She was
employed in a batik factory at Nathandiya. Both of them had been
carrying on for nearly two years. The couple had stayed at the hotel for
two days. On the night of 18th October the hotel employers had heard a
commotion inside their room. When they knocked at their room door the
couple had not opened the door.
Suspecting foul play the hotel employees had informed the Chilaw
police. The police forced opened the room door and found the man and the
woman stretched on the bed. Both were in a state of unconsciousness.
Police rushed the couple to the Chilaw hospital where the woman was
pronounced dead. Chilaw Police said that the couple had swallowed some
poison after a quarrel. The man who is in a serious condition is
receiving treatment at the Chilaw hospital. OIC Crimes Chilaw Police
Inspector Nishantha is investigating the case.
A similar incident happened a few years back when a Police Constable
exploded a hand grenade after a heated argument with his girl friend at
the police garage Narahenpita. Both the Constable and his girl died in
the blast.
Another suicide was reported from Dehiathakandiya this year where a
male school teacher who had an affair with a woman teacher set himself
on fire after pouring petrol on his body. The burnt body of the deceased
was found near the lavatory outside his quarters at Lihiniyagama
Dehiatekande.
Police found two empty bottles and a box of matches where his body
was. Both the deceased and the woman teacher had been serving in a
school at Uthalapura. It all happened after the woman refused to marry
him and go to live at his native village at Beliate.
Statistics below show that people committed suicide during the first
half of the year for the following reasons.
(a)For poverty- males 163 and females 12.
(b)Unemployment -22 males and 6 females.
(c)Elderly persons- 52 males 34 females.
(d)Harassment and family disputes- Males 290 and 132 females.
(e)Love Affairs-129 males and 77 females.
(f) Sexual harassment- 1 male and 3 females.
(g) Narcotics drugs-male 197 and 1 female.
(h)Aggrieved over the death of loved ones-43 males and 14 females.
(i) Loss of property- 7 males.
(g)Mental disorders- 161 males and 49 females.
(h)Chronic diseases- 305 males and 58 female
(i)failure at Exams 4 females,
(j)ill-treatment by children -16 males and 2 females.
(k) Sexual incapacity -1 male,
(l)Mental disorders-161 males and 49 females,
(m)Physical disabilities-305 males and 58 females.
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