Rly suicides by abused Asian women in London on rise: Report

London, Sep 23 (UNI) More ''abused'' Asian women are committing suicides on the railway tracks here, a train company's internal report has revealed.

The First Great Western's report said these shocking incidents happened on just one stretch of track, the line going through Southall, West London, where a large Asian community dwells.

In 2005, Navjeet Sidhu (27) jumped with her five-year-old daughter and 23-month-old son in front of a Heathrow Express train at Southall. All three died on the spot.

Later, the deceased's mother Satwant Kaur also committed suicide in the same way as she had felt that she lacked in her duties as a good mother and home-maker.

Southall Black Sisters, a women's group, claimed that abuse, domestic violence and ''sensitive cultural issues'' were the roots of the problem.

''The high instance of Asian women suicides is linked to abusive practices within Asian families.There is a correlation between these suicides and violence in Asian homes,'' member of the group Hannana Siddiqui was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying.

''Psychiatric research has shown there are rarely cases of mental disorders in these cases, suggesting they are the result of social circumstances. These women are often isolated and find it hard to escape, '' she added.

Reiterating it, Muslim playwright Yasmin Whittaker Khan, who has written about the social problems affecting Asian communities, said ''They feel there is no other way of escaping problems such as adultery, domestic violence and alcoholism.'' The First Great Western's estimation stated that number of suicides had risen to 240 last year from 203 in 2005.

The spokesman of the company said the rail firm was making serious efforts to tackle the problem while Network Rail, operating the track infrastructure, mentioned that the staff had averted three suicide attempts in Southall this year.

UNI