Dubai: Kuwait is experiencing an alarming increase in the suicide rates after at least 120 people killed themselves over the past 11 months, with some of them even taking their own lives inside police stations, local media reported.
Early this week and in less than 24 hours, three people ended their lives using different methods. The first one, a convicted Kuwaiti citizen, committed suicide inside a police station by tying parts of a quilt around his neck and hanging himself from the ceiling of the bathroom.
According to statistics reported by Al Qabas, 120 people committed suicide from January until November this year. This means there are about 12 cases of people committing suicide every month on average.
Sources said most of those who committed suicide are Asians, adding the suicide rate increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sources said authorities decided to deport any expats attempting to commit suicide following the alarming increase in such attempts, wherein most of those trying to end their lives jumped from Sheikh Jaber Bridge.
Sources stressed police stations frequently receive reports about attempted suicide among domestic workers, adding that Kuwait Firefighting Force has foiled the attempts of several Asians to kill themselves since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
Just recently, the National Human Rights Bureau announced it was currently working with government departments to study the factors that led to the alarming increase in the number of citizens and expats who committed suicide.
Chairman of the bureau’s Complaints and Grievances Committee, Ali Al Baghli, said: “Three suicide cases in one day should be enough to prompt the entire society to take action. Kuwait recorded the highest suicide rate in its history in 2020.”
