Dubai: Being cut off from support networks and increasing social pressures may be contributing to debt-related suicides, particularly among Indian families in Dubai.
The deaths of Indian film producer Santhosh Kumar and his family last week are just one of a number of collective suicides in the UAE.
An Indian family — a mother, son, and sister — committed suicide in their flat in Karama in 2009. The father survived the suicide attempt. Two years later, three members of an Indian family hanged themselves in their house in Ras Al Khaimah in September 2011.
A year later, an Indian father was found dead after committing suicide and killing his five-year-old daughter in his Bur Dubai flat. The mother survived but was in critical condition. All the collective suicide cases were prompted by a common cause — mounting financial problems.
Joseph Bobby, a social worker who has worked in the UAE for 12 years, said a majority of the suicide cases in the country in general are committed by Indians, a big proportion of whom come from South India.
The lack of sufficient support systems may push heads of families to the edge. Depression kicks in and overwhelms the person. Having friends on hand helps but, in many cases, even they are drive away by financial problems.
“Based on my experience, people who are close to the family that’s in huge debt distance themselves in the long run. Some five to 10 per cent of their friends will come forward to help. But, obviously, they will also have their limitations,” Bobby told Gulf News.
Bobby said the majority of the people facing these difficulties are not willing to talk about the issue openly with friends. Many of them are nuclear families and don’t have anyone else to rely on.
“Thirty years back, families were extended so help was [readily available]. Nowadays, families have become more nuclear. Everyone has his own troubles to deal with.”
Bobby said the process does not happen overnight. In many cases, the debt has been there for years. Those neck-deep in debt and think they have nowhere to go, turn to suicide as the only way out.
Gulf News asked Indian residents who have had money problems at some point in their lives how they think taking one’s life can be prevented.
M.U., a commercial manager, lost all his life’s savings to a bogus investment last year. He ended up badly in debt to a friend. To top it all, he was having labour issues as well. But the thought of suicide never crossed his mind, he said.
“I don’t agree that committing suicide [is the way out]. I think you need to face the problem. You need to look for a chance to sort it out, whatever it is,” M.U., 44, told Gulf News.
M.U. said many families in debt refuse to talk about it with friends. A counselling centre where families can get psychological, moral, and legal support is needed.
Tuhina Bhattacharya, a homemaker and mother of two, said many fathers and mothers who get into the debt trap are victims of peer pressure because they feel they “need to belong”.
Bhattacharya said her family doesn’t have the social support other families have. But faith in God keeps them afloat when troubles come.
“Our trust and belief in God keeps us anchored. We always think that if there are good times, there will also be bad times. And we decide whether we will be depressed or happy with whatever little we have.”
Ashish Varghese, a production manager, said that the families that had committed suicide must have been hunted by their creditors. Help from oustide is important, but the family will have to make that decision first.
“Providing free counselling is one part of the solution. But, at the end of the day, the families are the one who have to stay and fight. They have to find the will to bounce back and knock on doors for help.”
