HARIPUR, Feb 23: At least 105 peoples, including 26 women, committed suicide during the past 32 months in different parts of the Haripur district.

Official record gathered from all the seven police stations in the district shows that from January 2002 to August 2004, a total of 105 cases were registered under section 174 of the CrPC. Twenty-four persons were reported to have died under 'mysterious circumstances' while 81 had committed suicide.

In the year 2002, 13 women and 10 men committed suicide. From January 2002 to August 2004, 11 women committed suicide because of uncomfortable marital relations. Six fell prey to the pressure of marrying to the match they reportedly did not deem suitable. Four women were declared mentally retarded, one epileptic while three others were killed in fire accidents or when pistols went off 'accidentally'.

One woman jumped into a well and the body of another was recovered from the banks of Indus River in Tehsil Ghazi. Seventeen women shot themselves dead, five set themselves ablaze, two hanged themselves with ceiling fans while one consumed poison.

Among men, 16 committed suicides owing to economic hardship, four were unable to bear expenses of medical treatment and two were reportedly mentally retarded. One boy committed suicide after he failed his examination and six others did so after their parents had scolded them.

A man and a woman, who were reportedly in love with each other, took insecticide together after their parents refused them permission to marry. In the year 2002, five women committed suicide in the jurisdiction of the Khalabat Township police and in 2003-04 the incidence of suicide among women in this area dropped to one.

Three suicides were reported to the City police station, two to the Ghazi police and one was registered by the Saddar police in 2002. Self killing by men increased during the 2003 and 2004 in the jurisdiction of the Khanpur police, with seven and six cases respectively.