“Why Did You Save Me?”: Inside Azad Kashmir’s Growing Suicide Crisis

KEY POINTS

Mental illness and domestic violence are linked to multiple suicide cases.
Psychologist cites lack of research, data, and coordinated response.
Economic stress, forced marriages, and abuse are driving women’s despair.
Women in joint families face control, neglect, and silent suffering.
Officials admit no proper data or mental health infrastructure exists.

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: On 13 October, as the sun dipped behind the mountains and dusk spread like a soft veil across Muzaffarabad, a crowd gathered on the Saheli Sarkar Bridge — beneath which the Neelum River flows quietly, only a stone’s throw before it meets the mighty Jhelum River.

On both banks, people stood shouting and crying, their voices echoing through the valley. Before long, the grim truth surfaced — a woman had jumped off the bridge, attempting to end her life. Yet not a soul dared to risk theirs to save her.

Nearby, a young man, Syed Rafique Hussain, was fishing — unaware that fate was about to cast him into a life-and-death moment.

“At first, I thought the people on the bridge and along the riverbanks were waving at me, wondering what I was doing. But then one man pointed towards the river. I looked down and saw strands of hair floating. I thought it was a corpse and was prepared to pull it out. As it came closer, I realised it was a woman.”

He didn’t think twice and jumped in, grabbed her, and pulled her to the bank. She was still breathing.

He drained the water from her lungs, and when she finally opened her eyes, her first words cut through the silence: “Why did you save me?”

These women are married young, poorly educated, and have no say in their own lives. Divorce is seen as a shame, even though religion forbids suicide. It’s a cruel irony.” – Dr. Anum, psychologist at CMH, Muzaffarabad

Saiqa Jabeen (not her real name) — a university student — was rescued just before the Neelum River meets the Jhelum in Muzaffarabad city.

“Had there been a delay of just a few more minutes, she would have been lost to the waters for good,” Rafique remarks.

Family sources tell WE News English that Jabeen wanted to marry a man of her choice — but her family refused. “In despair, she chose to end her life — a heartbreaking act born out of love, loss, and defiance,” they say.

Stories lost to water

From January to 13 October this year, nine women have taken their own lives, and one attempted suicide but was rescued alive from the Jhelum River.

According to police records, the first suicide of this year occurred on April 3, when a 17-year-old girl from Hattian Bala jumped into the Jhelum River.

Most of them were from villages and small towns — young, old, students, housewives, mothers — women from all walks of life, each with her own untold story.

Likewise, on May 23, 2024, Muzaffarabad woke up to one of the most shocking incidents in recent memory.

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage showed a 38-year-old woman, Jameela (not her real name), wearing a long shawl, walking with her young son across the colonial-era iron bridge in the Domel area at about 9:41 a.m.

Jameela stood quietly by the western railing as people and rickshaws passed by. When the bridge cleared, she took a deep breath, lifted her little son — not yet five — and threw him into the swollen Jhelum River.

A heartbeat later, she climbed the railing and followed him. For a few seconds, both were visible in the water before the current took them away. They were never seen again.

There should be a conscious effort to educate and sensitise people.” – Ikramul Haq, Director, Women Development Department, AJK

Local police, during a media briefing, quoted the family members of Jameela as saying that she had been under treatment for mental disorders in Abbottabad for several years.

Just weeks earlier, on May 5, 2024, another tragedy had struck. Fahmeeda (not her real name) from Bandi Kokiyal village had jumped into the same river with her infant daughter, battling demons no one could see.

Her in-laws told police that she suffered from mental illness, but her maternal relatives rejected that claim, saying she acted out of desperation after enduring domestic violence.

Fahmeeda left behind another daughter, aged three.

In the face of such tragedies, families often choose silence — sweeping the pain under the rug rather than seeking answers.

Unheard cries for help

Dr. Anum, a psychologist at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) here, says there are no proper studies, no central data, and no coordinated effort to understand why suicides are rising in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK).

“We don’t have any systematic research or a central database for suicides in the country. The limited data we get usually comes through disaster management authorities, but it doesn’t explain the causes,” she observes.

According to her, suicide is rarely about one thing — it’s a web of pressures tightening around people’s necks.

“Sometimes mental illness is a factor, but not always. Many people lack the ability to cope with stress or regulate their emotions effectively,” she says.

Dr. Anum points to economic hardship, domestic violence, forced marriages, and emotional abuse as the main social stressors behind the rising number of suicide cases in Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

Mental health isn’t treated as a priority in our society. Women are pushed to the wall in every sphere — at home, at work, in public life.” – Nisara Abbasi, Adviser to the AJK Prime Minister

“In our experience at the rehabilitation centres, most women who attempt suicide are married and face intense social issues — marriages against their will, abusive relationships, and emotional neglect,” she said.

Trapped between walls

Dr. Anum remarks that living in joint families often feels like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

“These women are married young, poorly educated, and have no say in their own lives. Divorce is seen as a shame, even though religion forbids suicide. It’s a cruel irony.”

She notes that while studies have been conducted in Gilgit-Baltistan, the Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Azad Jammu & Kashmir remains a blank page — unstudied, uncounted, unheard.

“In those regions, women’s suicides are linked mostly to family stress, while men’s are to mental illness. But here, the pattern flips — women die by suicide at more than twice the rate of men.”

Recalling one patient’s story, she says, “After being rescued from the river, the woman begged her father not to send her to her husband. But he said he could not afford to keep her — that he’d send her back even if it meant more beatings.”

For women like her, it is a vicious circle—no home to run to, no law to shield them, and no one to listen when they cry for help.

Calls for change

Ikramul Haq, Director of the Women Development Department in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, admits there is no comprehensive data on women’s suicides, but says that the causes are “deeply tied to economic stress and a growing lack of social tolerance.”

Even minor domestic disputes, he notes, often escalate into unbearable pressure.

“There should be a conscious effort to educate and sensitise people,” he says, adding that the trend is not limited to married women.

“Even young girls — students in matriculation and intermediate classes — sometimes take their own lives out of frustration or academic pressure.”

Nisara Abbasi, Adviser to the Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Women Parliamentarians Caucus, believes that the storm is brewing from multiple directions — domestic violence, social attitudes, harassment, and economic despair.

“There is no doubt that domestic violence and social attitudes are the main factors that lead to mental health issues, and women who are psychologically weak often end their lives as a result.”

Abbasi says she presented a resolution in the Legislative Assembly that was passed unanimously, but its recommendation never translated into real change.

“Mental health isn’t treated as a priority in our society. Women are pushed to the wall in every sphere — at home, at work, in public life,” she laments.

She stresses the dire need for psychologists at rural health centres, saying the absence of mental health care turns a manageable illness into a death sentence.