Egypt records over 2.5K suicide cases in 2021

CAIRO – 18 January 2022: The National Council for Criminal and Social Research announced Tuesday that the number of suicide cases in 2021 is 2,584, recommending a number of measures to reduce that phenomenon.

The council urges promoting awareness on mental health, and encouraging individuals to seek psychological help whenever they feel they need it. That is because the Egyptian culture perceives people who do so negatively.

The second most important recommendation is detecting pages, and calls that advocate for suicide on social media, and imposing a penalty on those who stand behind them.  

The latest suicide case that became a public opinion issue is the suicide of a female high school student, who was subject to blackmail by sexual harassers.

Passant Khaled,17, took her own life on December 31 after two men had Photoshopped her photos turning them into seductive ones and blackmailed her online.

Passant drank poison after her family saw the photos and video edited by the two men, who were trying to talk to her but she declined so they threatened her to avenge, posting them on social media.

Before committing suicide, Passant wrote a letter to her mother saying that the woman in the footage is not her, and that she would never behave in this way.

The two men were arrested on January 4, and are being apprehended pending investigation, as preliminary findings show that the total number of suspects may be 18.