Suicide by Self-Immolation in Durban, South Africa

Abstract

Self-immolation is an uncommon method of suicide, and its occurrence in South Africa is thus far unknown. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of self-immolation deaths and to establish a profile of these cases and the circumstances under which this condition occurs. A 5-year (1996-2000) retrospective review at a mortuary in Durban, South Africa, was conducted. Data were obtained from the Department of Forensic Medicine, the Medical Research Council's National Injury Mortality Surveillance System, and police and hospital records. During the study period, there were 12339 nonnatural deaths, of which 696 (5.6%) were suicides. Self-immolation accounted for 69 (0.6%) of all nonnatural deaths and 69 (9.9%) of all suicides. The subjects had a mean age of 31.2 years and were predominantly female (76.8%) and black (81.2%). The mean burn surface area was 63.3%, and the mean injury severity score was 36.9. Accelerant use was documented in 53 (76.8%) of cases, and paraffin was preferred. All cases occurred indoors. The proportion of suicides due to self-immolation in our study is excessive when compared with international studies that report figures between 0.9% and 2.2% of suicides. Additional studies are necessary to further elucidate the reasons for this discrepancy.

Queimaduras autoinfligidas: tentativa de suicídio

“…In Durban (South Africa), 9.9% of all suicides were the result of selfsacrifice 12 . On the other hand, in Germany, burn was much less used as a means of suicide, accounting for only 0.76% of all suicides in Berlin 13 .…”

Gender differences in burns: A study from emergency centres in the Western Cape, South Africa

“…Studies of specific causes have reported gender differences with women overrepresented among burns due to kerosene stove explosions [27] and men among petrol fire disaster victims [28]. Studies also show that South African men are a particular risk group for burns related to interpersonal violence [19,29,30] and women, for self-inflicted burns [19,29,31]. There are also indications that there might be an over-representation of burns among women during the weekend [8].…”

Variation in the Incidence of Self-Immolation According To Culture and Income Level: A Literature Review

“…As stated earlier, self-immolation appears to be more common in those regions of the world. Higher rates by these same racial and ethnic groups may also been seen in immigrant populations [6,[14][15][16][17]]. There appears to be a higher rate of self-immolation committed by immigrants in England and South Africa, compared to the non-immigrant population.…”

“…Home is the main location for immolation, described in 50 to 65% of the cases [8,17,28,29,[31][32][33]38]. Some psychopathological characteristics may influence this choice of location.…”

“…Despite the low overall rate in the Western world, self-immolation may represent 1 to 10% of the cases in Burn Units [9,13]. Documented cases in the West indicate that victims are more likely to be immigrants, indicating that there may be cultural influences that motivate this behavior [6,[14][15][16][17][18][19].…”