First suicide during holy month of Ramzan in Kashmir

Srinagar, Sep 15 (UNI) Yet another girl commited suicide, the first during the holy month of Ramzan, in the Kashmir valley, despite fatwa by Muslim ulemas describing the act against teachings of Islam.

Official sources said a girl identified as Fehmida Bano was admitted to hospital in a critical condition after she consumed some poisonous substance in her house at Hayan in the north Kashmir district of Kupwara.

She died in the hospital later, they said, adding it was not immediately known why the girl took the extreme step. However, police has registered a case and started investigation, they added.

Suicides in the Kashmir valley, particuarly by the younger generation, have increased during the recent years, forcing Muslim ulemas, including Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Bashir Udddin, to issue a fatwa against taking one's own life.

The ulemas described the act as ''unislamic and against the teachings of Prophet Mohammad''. However, more than a dozen persons, including women, had committed suicides after the fatwa by the ulemas. Two dozen others survived the attempt.

It was being said that failure in love and examinations, besides other domestic problems, were the reasons behind suicides by the people in the valley.

The trend of taking the extreme step by the security force personnel engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the state had also increased in the recent past. In a number of other incidents, security force jawans killed their colleagues. This, was witnessed despite the introduction of Yoga and Art of Living to help security forces tackle stress.

UNI