Mariam weeps over her daughter, Najiba, 13. Najiba, who had been married six months, claimed that her mother-in-law doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, though her mother, and other nurses in the hospital, were skeptical of her story, and suspected she might have burned herself in an attempted suicide. (Photo: Lynsey Addario/New York Times)
Officials in Herat Hospital have reported that 25 people have been admitted in the hospital for suicide attempts in the past three days.
Aziz ul Rahman Jami, head of the emergency department said that 90% of these people were women and all the people were below thirty in age. According to him, one woman lost her life and three people are in critical condition.
Poverty and domestic violence are pointed at as the main causes behind suicide attempts in Herat province.
Mr. Jami told BBC that most people have attempted suicide by taking toxic substances and drugs.
According to official statistics, last year about 700 people, most of them women, attempted suicide in Herat province. 33 of these attempts had led to death.
The people had attempted suicide by hanging themselves, taking poisonous substances, and self-immolation.