Financial woes behind most Dubai suicides

About 80 per cent of suicides concentrate between the age group of 20 and 40 years. Financial woes topped the list of causes that drove people to suicides in the emirate, according to a forensic expert.

There were 477 suicide cases in Dubai in the last four years, according to Dubai Police records. While 2009 saw a decline in the number of cases (113 cases) from 2006 and 2007, which saw 102 and 114 cases respectively, the number of suicide cases had peaked in 2008 with 148 cases investigated.

Dr Ashraf Ibrahim Hassan, forensic medical examiner, Forensic Medicine Department, Dubai Police, said 60 per cent of cases are due to financial reasons, 30 per cent due to emotional reasons, only 10 per cent are due to other causes.

Physical methods of terminating life were the most common and provide direct evidence, while chemical methods offer latent evidence of action. In cases of poisoning, it is difficult to prove if it was a suicide case or just an overdose of drugs, said Dr Hassan.

Similarly to rule out suicide in cases of death due to fall or drowning takes time as witnesses play a  crucial role. Also in such cases detailed investigation with respect to the victims' family history and his immediate environment is time consuming.

Dr Hassan said: "Suicides formed only less than 10 per cent of the total cases of deaths submitted to the Department of Forensic Medicine (criminal and normal). Natural deaths formed 70 per cent and murder included 20 per cent, while deaths due to accidents (vehicle) represented just 10 per cent. While 80 per cent of suicides are concentrated in the age group from 20 to 40 years, drug abuse form 20-25 per cent of deaths."

When it comes to taking one's life, men are more aggressive, he said. Of the 113 cases reported last year, only nine involved women, said Dr Hassan, which is less than 10 per cent. Suicides are most common among illiterates and the unskilled and are rare among the educated, he added.

In most cases victims end their lives to escape difficult siuations. Yet others end their lives to bury a secret with them. Whatever the reason, suicide is not the answer, said Dr Hassan.

People who have survived suicide attempts have reported wanting not so much to die as to stop living, a strange dichotomy but a valid one nevertheless, he said.

Depression is also increasingly becoming a prime reason. "My experience has shown that 90 per cent of suicides follow psychological pressure, where the person might not have been willing to work, for instance, otherwise he might be a dignified and sensitive person. About 20 per cent of victims would have already attempted suicide before.”

In his long experience with the forensic department, Dr Hassan has come across several interesting as well as difficult cases. One particular case that moved him the most was the sight of small children crying on seeing their father hanging from the ceiling when they returned from school.

He another case, a Pakistani man's body was found with 17 incised wounds on his neck and wrists, apparently made with razors. Investigations proved he was a highly religious person but was mentally  depressed, he said.

Similarly, an Indian computer engineer was found dead inside his car in Dubai again with injuries on his neck and wrists. Investigations found that he was accused of stealing money from his company.

Another incident, Dr Hassan said, which was confirmed as natural death and later revoked to as suicide when they found marks on his neck that showed he was killed and then hanged.

Police found a body on Al Saif Street with his shirt wrapped around his neck and initial probe said it was a car accident. Later it was proved that he had committed suicide and his partners wanted to get rid of his body as they were into illicit liqour trade and therefore dumped his body on the street.

Dr Hassan said suicide among children was rare. In one such case the body of an 11-year old was found in Al Qusais area. He had hanged himself. Among children the reasons are very silly, he said, such as betting among themselves to a daredevil act just mimicking their superheroes.

Shooting oneself is again rare method adopted by people committing suicides, he added.

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