Whenever someone kills himself (or herself), one wonders if it could have been avoided. Usually it's because the man or woman is severely depressed due to rejection or due to poverty. Years ago a senior police officer committed suicide because his daughter almost succeeded in eloping with a Christian boyfriend. The man escaped with all her jewelry to Turkey, but she was caught at the airport. The police officer killed himself because he couldn't bear the shame.

Yesterday a boy of sixteen jumped from the fourteenth floor in our apartment complex. I knew a girl must have been the reason, and it turned out to be true, even though his father said he'd done it because he badly wanted to own a car but his parents had told him he could have it after a couple of months. The boy (like the children of some super-rich people) was consuming drugs and alcohol. His father is employed in the Sindh Irrigation Department, which is the most corrupt department in the country. I know a couple of people who became overnight billionaires in just four or five years working as Irrigation engineers or officers. So it was only natural that the poor boy didn't get the attention he would have had if he'd been a member of a middle class family. 

In my opinion, it was a senseless death. He killed himself because his girl friend broke off with him. He was too young to commit suicide merely because he couldn't get the girl of his dreams. I'm convinced that if he'd been a normal boy, he would never have taken this extreme step.  

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