Why is suicide among students increasing in Rajshahi?

Bulbul Ahmed’s dream was to enter the government service by passing the BCS exam. By bringing wealth back to the family, you will free your father, who is a mason by profession. The family was also dreaming about Bulbul, who completed his Honors-Masters from Rajshahi College.

But last Saturday, the sky collapsed on the family. Bulbul’s hanging body was found inside the mosque next to the house in the morning. He gave BCS exam a day before. Have dinner together with parents at night. His body was recovered a few hours later.

Bulbul Ahmed’s house is in East Nayapara village of Baneshwar Union of Puthia Upazila of Rajshahi. Local people including his father Sahib Ali think that the BCS exam may not have gone well. Bulbul may have committed suicide for that.

Several youths like Bulbul have committed suicide in the past few years, who were studying or had just completed their studies in various educational institutions in Rajshahi. Among them, at least 13 former and current students of Rajshahi University have committed suicide in the last seven years. Two students of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) committed suicide this month. At least 4 students of other higher education institutions in the city have committed suicide in the last two years.

Concerns have arisen among experts. They say career-focused depression is observed in a large proportion of students who commit suicide. Due to the closure of educational institutions for a long time during the corona epidemic, the level of depression has increased a lot.

Ruet student Samiur Rahman committed suicide by hanging himself in his dormitory room on May 20. Three days before this, another student named Tanveer Fahad Rumi committed suicide by hanging himself in his room of Ruet’s Lieutenant Salim Hall. Professor Rabiul Islam, student welfare director of RUET, told Samakal, ‘They were depressed; heard However, the root cause of depression is not known.’

Six students of Rajshahi University (Rabi) committed suicide last year. According to statistics, this number is the highest in the last seven years. In the previous year, at least three people committed suicide during the Corona pandemic. University authorities say that the frustration among students has increased due to the closure of educational institutions for a long time during Corona. It has created a tendency to commit suicide in many people.

Ishtiaq Mahmud Pathan, a former student of Rabi’s Bengali department, committed suicide by writing a status on Facebook on February 17 last year out of frustration over a related separation. On April 8 of the same year, I gave up on life. Sohag Khandkar, a student of Faculty of Fine Arts, committed suicide by wrapping a towel around his neck with such a status on Facebook. A few days later, the body of Jannatul Mawa Disha, a student of drama department, was recovered from her husband’s house in Adabar of the capital. It is claimed that he committed suicide due to mental turmoil and depression.

On May 10 last year, Sadia Tabassum, a fourth-year student of Geology and Mining Department, committed suicide by hanging herself at her home in Mymensingh by writing a suicide note saying ‘Depression is like dust, there is no way out, life is consuming me, I can’t accept it’. On September 26, 2022, after 3 months of marriage, Chhanda Roy, a Master’s student of Rabi’s Department of Economics, committed suicide by twisting her veil around her neck at her husband’s house. After this, on December 20, second year student of accounting and information management department Mrutyanjayi Sen committed suicide due to anxiety about his career.

Professor Anwarul Hasan Sufi, a former teacher and psychologist of Rajshahi University’s Department of Psychology, told Samakal, ‘Students are coming to us with mental problems almost every day. The number of patients suffering from depression and anxiety is highest. Students suffer more from career-oriented anxiety. They are leaving the illusion of life due to the post-corona epidemic session jam, not being able to get the desired result in the exam, worried about the expected government job.’

Professor Anwarul Hasan said. “Students should understand that not everyone will get a government job. There are very few government jobs compared to the number of certified graduates coming out. They have to understand this.’

Emphasizing on providing necessary emotional support to anxious students, he said, ‘Depression can increase if they are lonely. For that, close people should always trust him.’

In response to the question whether there has been an increase in suicide among the students of Rajshahi in recent years, he said, ‘There has been an increase in suicide among students everywhere. In my personal opinion, the reason for the growth in Rajshahi is the lack of financial resources. Tuition, part time jobs are also less in Rajshahi than other cities. There are more students here. As a result, depression may increase among students who are worried due to financial crisis. Also, as there are no workplaces in Rajshahi locally, there is some frustration among the students about getting jobs in the future.’

He said that due to family pressure, as well as bad family relations, many people tend to commit suicide.

Rajshahi University has a mental health center to treat the mental health of teachers-students, officers and employees. The coordinator of this center, Mehdi Hasan, said that since the start of the program in August 2017, about two thousand people have been treated so far.

He said, ‘We have given treatment to 687 people in 2022 after opening the campus after the corona epidemic. Among them, 33 percent of students were at high risk of suicide. Some of those who attempted suicide recovered with treatment. In this year, about 300 students have come for treatment in these five months. Most of them have suicidal tendencies.’

Mehdi Hasan said, ‘I found 41 problems among those who come here. Most have career concerns, financial and relationship issues. Many people think that others are becoming something big, but I could not! Or one is studying a good subject, I am studying a comparatively less good subject. What to do after reading; How to take care of the family – students are getting frustrated with various issues.’