Suicide, a last resort for the desperate

By Abu Ibrahim and Tedy Novan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A cool night breeze fanned the air when Suparno tied a rope to the roof and tried to hang himself on his front porch.

Fortunately, his parents and siblings were able to cut him down. The 20-year-old resident of Karangasem village, Gunungkidul, is the only survivor from eight people in the area who tried to commit suicide in the past year.

The dark skinned, wiry man told The Jakarta Post recently he felt hopeless after his parents could not pay for his high school education when their cassava crop died due to drought.

Suparno's father, Supardi, had hoped that one day his son would be able to help his family out of poverty. But that took education, and school fees.

"I need money in order to go to school, and that is a very big problem for me," Suparno says.

He worked in the market or tilled other people's land to try to help his parents. It was not enough. His parents felt guilty, but could not do anything. Suparno believed suicide was the only way out.

There have been so many suicides that they have taken on an odd cloak of normalcy for the 709,415 registered residents in the region's 13 subdistricts. Suicide is shameful in Indonesian culture, but the dead in Gunungkidul are treated just as people who died from natural causes, with the usual funeral ceremony and prayers on particular anniversaries of the death.

Last month, villagers of Hargosari village observed the 1,000th day of Rubiyem's death. The 50-year-old woman, who lived by herself, had taken her own life because she suffered from acute asthma, according to her neighbors. She had also mentioned to two of her neighbors her plans to kill herself.

"We were not surprised that Rubiyem killed herself. Maybe it was the only way," remarked neighbor Subardi casually.

Gunungkidul's suicide rate has been high over the past five years. According to the Gunungkidul police chief, Let. Col. Dewan Hevriadi, there were 19 suicides in 1993, 17 in 1994 and 25 in 1995. Last year, there were eight suicides, but the rate increased with nine cases in the first seven months of this year.

Poverty is the major cause. Gunungkidul is a dry area, a lattice formed from the cracked, parched earth. The land is full of lime and villagers cannot depend on farming. Most telling of all is that exactly half of the 144 villages in Gunungkidul are listed as the poorest villages in the country.

Police records show chronic illness, broken relationships and problems in school have also caused residents to commit suicide. In 1995, an 11-year-old boy killed himself after his parents refused to buy the toys he wanted.

In most societies, more men than women commit suicide. In Gunungkidul, older women once made up the largest group of suicides, but there is an increasing number of young people among the victims, Hevriadi said. The most common method is hanging.

He attributed the high suicide rate to lack of religious conviction. Police officers are working with ulemas in trying to change all that.

They are also calling on the Bayangkara, a traditional Javanese theater group. The performances are infused with moral messages and are popular among residents.

The ulemas support the police efforts. But Issukardi, a 28- year-old Moslem teacher, said poverty, the root of the problem, should be tackled.

"Even though there are many religious teachings and seminars, there will be suicide cases if they can't solve their economic problems," he said.

The Gunungkidul authorities have tried various tactics to tackle the problem. They have prohibited people from selling their food supply during dry seasons, and banned theater performances during the dry season. They are apparently worried that people will waste their money instead of buying basic necessities.

"We also try to find villagers who have no food at all during the drought. Usually these are the people who might take their lives," said Suharto, chief of Jeruklegi village, where many villagers have killed themselves.

No scientific research has been done on the suicides in Gunungkidul, said psychologist Sri Malyani Martaniah of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. She said the suicides are usually people on the periphery of society. Guilt over not being able to solve their problems often leads them to kill themselves.

Residents have witnessed so many suicides that they know the methods for themselves, Martaniah said, and believe it is an easy solution to their problems.

Martaniah agreed poverty was the main cause. She said more women killed themselves than men because their responsibilities were greater. In Gunungkidul, women are expected to take care of the household and find money to support their families.

"Women's responsibilities in Gunungkidul are much higher than men's," Martaniah said. "This is quite different from countries like the United States and in Europe, where men have greater responsibilities. There male suicide cases are more frequent."