Pacific / Fiji

Fiji police concerned about suicide rate

08:28 am on 26 February 2015

Fiji's police have appealed to the public to talk more about their issues as a way to address the concerning rate of suicide cases.

Already this year there have been 18 reported suicide cases and police say most of them are linked to domestic disputes, relationship problems or restrictions imposed on teenagers.

Police are also concerned with the number of attempted suicide cases.

There have been 27 cases of such action at police stations around the country this year.

The majority of the cases of suicide and attempted suicide involved people between the age of 14 and 40 and police say they are worried about the continuous trend where those deemed to be in their productive years have opt to take their lives over an issue that could be resolved through dialogue.

The police have also encouraged parents and guardians to spend more quality time with their children in order to understand some of their troubles. In 2014 were 118 suicides and 112 attempts in Fiji.