Photo by McKay Savage
There has been an epidemic in India and it’s not a sickness. By the thousands each year, housewives are killing themselves. It has been higher than India’s suicide rate since 2017.
Per BBC, “The rate of housewives taking their lives – more than 11 per 100,000 people – has been consistently higher than India’s overall suicide rate since 1997. It dropped to 9.3 in 2014, yet suicide rate for housewives was more than twice those for farmers that year.”
One famous television actress, Pratyusha Banerjee took her life the week of April 1 last year. It came as a surprise to everyone.
The New Indian Express reports, “Pratyusha Banerjee, the well-known television actress, who committed suicide last week left the entire television industry in deep shock.
A lot of times, wives will commit suicide based on dowry. Dowry is a system in which the family pays the soon to be husband to marry their daughter. Many times, this will lead to the husband treating the woman as a piece of property and may eventually lead to a murder. In many cases, though, it ends in suicide. One famous women, Priyanka Kapoor killed herself because she didn’t see any way out of the abuse she was she was receiving from her husband.
The Chicago Tribune explains, “Nitin Chawla, arrested on dowry death, virtually held his wife prisoner in their Defence Colony home, police said.”
Research that has been done on the Indian housewife suicide phenomena has shown that most suicides occur within the first two decades of marriage.
BBC States, “Married women are part of the cohort. Mr Mayer, author of Suicide and Society in India, and co-researcher Della Steen, found that the ‘risk of suicide is, on the whole, highest in what are probably the first or second decades of marriage, that is, for those aged between 30 and 45.’”
People were so shocked by Pratushya Banerjee’s death, that other housewives took their lives as well.
Per The New Indian Express, “A fan of Pratyusha from Raipur, Madhu Mahanan (26), who has been following the news from day 1, was so disturbed that she too hanged herself from the ceiling fan.”
Gospel for Asia (GFA)-Supported women missionaries are sharing Christ’s hope with those who are in hopeless situations. One such woman was a widow, name Kuvira. The Gospel for Asia (GFA)-Supported women missionaries in her village took care of her husband before he died of kidney failure. He died, but Kuvira started attending church after seeing their compassion for her.
Gospel for Asia (GFA) reports, “Now, Kuvira is continuing to grow closer to the Lord and participate in the activities of the local church. She thanks God for redeeming her life and for leading Latha to support her during a time she most needed a friend.”
Please pray for an end to housewife suicides and for many housewives to come to know Christ’s hope.
BBC: Why are India’s housewives killing themselves?
The New Indian Express: Shocked by Pratyusha’s Death, ‘Balika Vadhu’ Fan Commits Suicide
Chicago Tribune: ‘Cannot take the beating anymore’: Model kills self, husband arrested
Gospel for Asia: Widow Shares Hope with a Fellow Widow
