[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Indian Action Committee (IAC) has expressed sadness at the death of two young Indo-Guyanese couple whose bodies were discovered in the vicinity of the Kingston Seawall late Monday afternoon.
Police are working on the theory that the couple committed suicide and as such, the IAC in a statement noted that this highlights the “tragic consequences of this social scourge that continues to plague our society.”
According to the IAC statement, “Only recently in the City, a well-known activist, Zenita Nicholson, committed suicide bringing into focus that even those who appear strong and are there to provide guidance, are also vulnerable. This underlines the IAC’s position on suicide, that while it may be more prevalent in some Indo-Guyanese communities, it not confined therein.”
According to the Indian Committee, “it further underpins and fortifies the IAC’s repeated calls in the past for suicide to be declared a national priority. The IAC had called on the immediate past People’s Progressive Party Civic Administration to heed the call and make the declaration. It made a similar call on the current A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU +AFC) government to see merit in the request.”
The IAC remains firm in its belief that a national declaration would bring a much needed sense of priority which in turn would necessitate the provision of the human, technical and financial resources that would be needed to educate and mitigate on the circumstances that would propel people to end their lives.
“The continual and seemingly growing impact of suicide affects families, communities and the country as a whole. Guyana can ill afford to have such loses in its human resources. It is in this context that IAC urge for a swift declaration and calls on civil society to lend support.
“More so, the IAC reiterates it call on all social and religious organization to intensify their efforts to provide guidance and counselling where necessary to aid it the mitigation of this social ill. The IAC stands ready to work with the Administration and civil society through meaningful engagements in helping to deriving useful mechanisms with regard to suicide.”
The IAC would also like to encourage those who may, for whatever reason, contemplating or would have already develop suicidal tendencies, to seek assistance, despite the challenges, through the family, places of worship, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) that provide related services or anyone or place of choice.
