Alarm at Suicide Trend Among Girls in Tajik Southeast

Experts are concerned about a perceived rise in suicide attempts among adolescent girls in Tajikistan, and particularly in the mountainous region of Badakhshan.

Badakhshan’s regional prosecutor, Muhammad Arbobova, says there were 30 recorded suicides in 2013, most involving adolescent girls.

Prosecutors are under an obligation to investigate such cases, but Arbobov says that becomes difficult because relatives “cover up the facts, either out of respect for the dead or out of indifference”. Either way, he adds, “it is unacceptable”.

While some say the root causes of suicidal impulses lie in the depressed state of the economy and lack of opportunity, others say cases often turn out to involve relationships with classmates and friends that have gone wrong. What experts do agree on is that the Badakhshan region is desperately short of psychotherapists and other specialist support.

Marhobo Navjuvonova is an IWPR radio contributor. Mirzojalol Shohjamolov is an IWPR-trained radio journalist in Badakhshan, Tajikistan.

This audio programme went out in Russian and Tajik on national radio stations in Tajikistan. It was produced under two IWPR projects: Empowering Media and Civil Society Activists to Support Democratic Reforms in Tajikistan, funded by the European Union; and the Human Rights Reporting, Confidence Building and Conflict Information Programme, funded by the Foreign Ministry of Norway.The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of IWPR and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of either the European Union or the Norwegian foreign ministry.