December 02, 2008	Tuesday	Zilhaj 3, 1429

CHITRAL, Dec 1: The trend of committing suicide among married women has assumed alarming proportions during the last couple of years in the district and needs immediate attention of the society.

The issue was highlighted at a group discussion on ‘women’s rights in Chitral’ held here on Monday.

Organised by Regional Women Empowerment Project (RWEP) the discussion was participated by the RWEP project manager Imtiaz Ahmed, local intellectuals, human rights activists and media men.

Expressing apprehensions about the bleak future of the womenfolk, the speakers said the basic cause of resorting to the extreme measure of committing suicide by the married women was domestic violence.

The participants said majority of the girls found no place to get consolation when faced with excesses by their husbands or in-laws. They regretted that most of the cases were not reported to police by the relatives which emboldened the perpetrators.

They added in majority cases the relatives of the deceased entered into compromise with the perpetrators and withdrew the cases from the courts. They said the marriages of girls without their consent often led to suicide.

The speakers said sometimes the girls were murdered by their husbands and relatives and the incidents were portrayed as suicides.

The speakers regretted that there was no psychiatric clinic in the district and demanded setting up of the same so that number of suicides can be arrested.

CHITRAL UPLIFT PLEDGED: District nazim Maghfirat Shah and local MNA Shahzada Mohiuddin pledged on Monday to sink their political differences in the larger interest of the area.

Speaking at a conference on ‘development of Chitral’ organised by a local newspaper, ‘Chitral News’, they agreed political bickering would not benefit the poor people but will multiply their miseries.

They said although they came from two rival political parties, but they must act in unison to achieve the objective of integrated and sustainable development of the district.

The district nazim and MNA appreciated the efforts of wing commander (retired) Fardad Ali Shah for effectively highlighting the issues of Chitral through his on-line paper for the last ten years.

DCO Mutasim Billah Shah also spoke on the occasion and said Chitral was rich in mineral resources and had tremendous potential of tourism. He added a comprehensive strategy must be evolved to exploit the resources to fight poverty and backwardness in the area.