International data on suicide indicate that, overall, more women attempt suicide than men. Numerous studies have proven that this has to do with the lower social, political, legal and economic status of women vis-a-vis men, as well as the societal expectation that women act restrained and submissive. When it is no longer possible to put up a brave front, some women are liable to take the extreme step of committing suicide.
The research carried out for this article was to study suicide among women in Nepal and to see if there was any unique trend that differentiated the 'suicide-status' of Nepali women from those elsewhere. The search for information proved elusive. Firstly, all across South Asia, suicide data are considered unreliable. This is compounded in Nepal by numerous practical hurdles faced by researchers in data collection and analysis. A general picture of the nation as a whole is difficult to formulate because of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity.
Between July 1988 and Apri11991, according to police records, 976 women took their own lives in Nepal. That, on average, at least one woman commits suicide every day in the country is worrisome. The mental anguish and psychological trauma which lead to such drastic action, cumulatively add up to an enormous national burden that must be addressed by researchers, social workers and the government.
Unfortunately, educated Nepalis who should be concerned are busy revelling in the tourist guidebook-influenced belief that all Nepalis, men and women, are psychologically stable. There is no government-mandated programme that takes a hard look at suicide figures and makes policy recommendations. Social organisations are too busy conducting sewing classes or organising symposia. The few psychiatrists, all Kathmandu-based, are too overburdened with individual (normally upper class) patients to be able to look at the nation.