Jhenidah district is generally known for having highest number of suicide cases in the country. However, the trend has been unusually high, recent records show. In last 49 years some 35,000 people, mostly adolescent girls, have committed suicide which is undoubtedly alarming.
So upsetting is the trend that civil society groups have been forced to initiate their own programmes to prevent suicide cases. Mother Teresa Blood Bank, a blood donation organisation enriched with a number of young men and women have been organizing events to make ordinary people aware about consequences of any suicide cases and the social effects.
The organisation quoting psychiatrists said that 42 per cent male and 58 per cent female were among the victims due to a number of factors including hormonal problems, easy availability of pesticides at the doorsteps, excessive emotion, torture by husband and his family members, divorce, dowry, child marriage and male dominant society. According to Jhenidah Sadar hospital, office of the police super and research organization working with suicide, 34,740 persons had committed suicide in the district immediate after independence war of 1971. Further, another 65,ooo others failed to commit suicide after single or repeated attempts.
Sources said usually the ultra poor people in remote villages committed suicide by hanging, taking poison in early 1960s when the most harmful pesticides “Endrine” was brought in Bangladesh to kill insects and pests on crop lands. Shailkupa was infamous then for such social crime.
The trend was very high till 2000. A record with the office of the district police the number of unnatural deaths was 17,000 from 1971 to 1987. Police said many of them died for bad communications of roads and other ways when they could not be rushed to hospital. Want of adequate physicians in the hospitals was also blamed.
The unnatural death information states 742 committed suicide in 1988, 745 in 1089, 809 in 1990, 885 in 1991, 794 in 1992, 901 in 1993, 707 in 1994, 725 in 1995, 808 in 1996, 713 in 1997, 790 in1998, 712 in 1999 and 657 in 2000.
In 2001, the number was 597, while it was 780 in 2002, 720 in 2003, 670 in 2004, 550 in 2005, 429 in 2006, 401 in 2007, 226 in 2006, 221 in 2009, 316 in 2010, 300 in 2011, 225 in 2012, 311 in 2013, 303 in 2014, 359 in 2015, 388 in 2016, 424 in 2017, 396 in 2018 and 334 in the last year (2019).
A non government organization executive director when contacted said about 1,000 persons committed suicide in the district a year till 2000. Mother Teresa Blood Bank activists said they have stared working in Jhenidah with a view to advocating people to refrain from curse suicide through their awareness activities.Sheikh Abdul Fattah when contacted said some hormones prevailing in human body controls the emotion, agitation, laugh, weeping etc.
A Dr Fattah of medicine department serving in Jhenidah said that thyroxin is one of the hormones produced from Thyroid gland. These might be liable for suicidal incidents. Proper examination and treatment of Thyroid might reduce the suicidal trend partly. Civil Surgeon in Jhenidah Dr Salina Begum when contacted said suicide is a trend among the people of Jhenidah for their emotional mentality. Here the dissatisfaction in the family was one of the most common reasons behind the trend.
