Surviving Or Suicide, At Society’s Edge
Philip Setunga; 11/07
Jasih, a 30-year-old mother, set her two sons on fire while they were sleeping and then killed herself in the same way. Neighbours found her dead body hugging her 4-year-old boy. Her husband, Mahfud, explained that their life had come to the end of its tether and was no longer bearable. Their second son, Galuh, had suffered from brain cancer for a year and the pain was getting worse. The family did not have the money to buy prescription medicines that cost 300,000 rupiah (US), as their total income was only about 500,000 rupiah (US). A desperate Jasih could think of no solution but to take his life, and her own. In another case earlier in the year, a 35-year-old mother poisoned her four children, recorded the crime on her phone and then committed suicide. Mohamed Ronji, a 27-year-old father with no money to pay his electricity bills, hanged himself with a plastic rope. Minan Bin Missan, unable to afford medicine, committed suicide. The list of such miserable stories is long and dreadful and points the finger poignantly at the state.The Indonesian constitution clearly spells out the obligations of the state toward persons deprived of socioeconomic benefits. Section X, Article 27 (2) states, “Each citizen shall be entitled to an occupation and an existence proper for a human being.” Similarly, state responsibilities under Section XA, Article 28B (2) also gives “each child the right to live, grow up, and develop as well as the right to protection from violence or discrimination.”
See: http://www.hrsolidarity.net/mainfile.php/2007vol17no06/2594/
Tags: Human Rights, Indonesia, Suicide