The bodies of two women have been found in two separate incidents which the local police claim both cases were "suicides," while the investigations are still underway.
The body of a 15-year-old girl was sent to Shahid Hazhar Emergency Hospital in Kalar district Friday morning, May 27th.
Lieutenant Ali Jamal Qaduri, spokesman for Garmian police, said in a statement that the girl was found hanged in Salih Agha village of Quratu sub-district.
Quratu is part of Khanaqin district in DIyala province but administratively belongs to Garmian administration.
In another incident, the body of a woman was sent to Shahid Hazhar Hospital late last night.
"According to her relatives, she had been married for three months and committed suicide," Qaduri said.
The victim was only 22-years-old and an internally displaced person IDP resides Kalar district.
"The woman died of suicide when she was brought to the hospital," a source at Shahid Hazhar Hospital anonymously told KirkukNow.
Police are still in the early stages of investigating both cases.
"The bodies have been examined and an investigation has been launched into the cause and nature of the incidents," police spokesman said.
Over several years, many Iraqi families have suffered with mental health scars caused by past conflicts and economic hostilities, World Health Organization WHO said in a report about suicide in Iraq published in December 2020.
Various factors could contribute to rates of suicide in Iraq, WHO found out, including intimate partner problems, physical health conditions, financial challenges, and legal issues. Others are personal or family experiences of violence, for instance, child abuse, neglect, or family history of suicide and broader community conditions, such as high crime rates and violence.
Since the beginning of this year, 17 women and girls were killed in Kurdistan Region of Iraq KRI, according to the Kurdistan Women's Coalition, a front of women's rights organizations, under the excuse of "honor or social problems", including Eman (Maria) Sami (20 years), who was killed by her brother in Erbil, and Shinyar Anwar (21 years), who was killed by her husband in Sulaymaniyah.
Statistics from the General Directorate for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence indicate that 24 women were killed in the KRI last year, in addition to the registration of 62 cases of "suicide" and more than 78 cases of "self-immolation."
A statistic by Shingal mayor office shows 250 cases of suicide has been registered in the IDP camps since 2014, most of the cases were women.
According to official statistics, more than 300 women have been killed in the KRI since 2015 up today.
