sunsetdriver
15-11-2006, 20:47
Afghan women seek death by fire
Increasing numbers of Afghan women are committing suicide by setting fire to themselves to escape difficult lives, according to NGOs based in the country.
They say women forced into marriage or suffering chronic abuse are killing themselves out of desperation.
Although estimates are difficult to make, one group says cases of self-immolation in the capital have doubled since last year.
Cases are said to be reported every day in the western city of Herat.
In Kabul, some 36 cases of self-immolation have been recorded this year.
Delegates from countries like Bangladesh, Iran, India and Sri Lanka - which have similar female suicide rates - discussed the problem at a conference in Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission chief Sima Simar told the meeting: "It [self-immolation] is the final decision for women who don't have any other way to solve their problems."
One Afghan survivor, a 16-year-old girl, told the summit she had endured beatings from her drug-addicted husband, a man 25 years her senior and whom she was forced to marry.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6149144.stm
Increasing numbers of Afghan women are committing suicide by setting fire to themselves to escape difficult lives, according to NGOs based in the country.
They say women forced into marriage or suffering chronic abuse are killing themselves out of desperation.
Although estimates are difficult to make, one group says cases of self-immolation in the capital have doubled since last year.
Cases are said to be reported every day in the western city of Herat.
In Kabul, some 36 cases of self-immolation have been recorded this year.
Delegates from countries like Bangladesh, Iran, India and Sri Lanka - which have similar female suicide rates - discussed the problem at a conference in Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission chief Sima Simar told the meeting: "It [self-immolation] is the final decision for women who don't have any other way to solve their problems."
One Afghan survivor, a 16-year-old girl, told the summit she had endured beatings from her drug-addicted husband, a man 25 years her senior and whom she was forced to marry.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6149144.stm