The shocking suicide of an 8 year-old boy in Fiji has shown that this social tragedy affects all ages.
According to Fiji Times Online, the 8 year-old boy of Indian descent hung himself from a tree last week and he could be the country's youngest suicide victim.According to the boy's mother, the boy kept running away from school, even after changing schools and he was alone with his older brother at home when the incident happened.
According to the report, the incident has left the community devastated and the 'mother unable to accept that her young child chose death as a way out of his problems'.
'And as reports of truancy were linked to the problematic child, counsellor Selina Kuruleca, said the incident should serve as a wake-up call for school communities and parents, particularly with the impending release of exam results. She stressed the need for early counselling when facing problems with a child'.
According to Ms. Kuruleca, 'all ages are vulnerable to mental stress and depression and the youngest she has treated was nine years old'.
Last year in Fiji, 'almost 170 people took their lives about 40 per cent of whom were aged between 16 and 25' and a 'report by the Fiji Human Rights Commission said Fiji's youth suicide rate was among the highest in the world'.