UAE | Health
Boy with psychological disorder ends life
Police say the 12-year-old pupil was missing for more than a week from school.
- By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter and Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter
- Published: 00:48 March 13, 2008
Dubai: A 12-year-old boy who suffered from a psychological disorder committed suicide on Friday, police said.
Brigadier Abdul Jalil Mahdi, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Preventative Security Department, said the boy identified only by his initials, D.G.F. was facing problems at home.
The boy hung himself in an abandoned house in the Sonapur area. Police said the boy's father is bed-ridden.
An administrator of the school where the sixth grader was studying, said the victim's classmates were shocked to learn about his death. He said the boy was an average student. His sisters also studied at the same school, he said.
The boy was absent from school for one week due to his sister's marriage which took place on Thursday, a day before he was found dead.
Video clip
Gulf News obtained a short video showing the boy's body hanging from the ceiling of an abandoned house, with police also shown at the scene. The boy is wearing a black T-shirt and black pants.
The 19-second-long video is being widely circulated among teenagers.
Osama Al Mousa, a psychiatrist, said children at an young age tend to commit suicide when they have constant family pressures and problems at home.
He said children can be affected seeing their family members suffering on a daily basis as it makes them feel insecure and restless.
"If a child is older or is a teenager for instance, he or she will not tend to commit suicide. They will find a way to help their families, even if they have to steal. However, children at younger ages will feel helpless and will think of committing suicide to escape the dire situation," Al Mousa said.
He said another point is that children are not afraid of death like older people and do not know its consequences.
"Some children are also likely to imitate what they see in movies or the stories they hear from their peers. They want to see what the end of those actions will be therefore, they commit suicide using the method they are exposed to," Al Mousa said.
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