Burnt wives in Tehran: a warm tragedy of self-injury

To investigate the characteristics and causes of self burning among married women in the capital of Iran.

Thirty five victims of self immolation were enrolled in our study during the 4 years of study period. All patients were married attempting suicide by burning themselves. Of these, no one was diagnosed to suffer from a mental or psychological disorder.

A statistically significant difference was observed between age groups in terms of education, occupation, and income (p<0.05). In 42.9% of the cases, burning has occurred between 12:00 and 18:00 significantly different from other times (p<0.05). 45.7% of the incidents took place in the courtyard of the house followed by 8% in bathroom, 8% in the kitchen, 2% in dining room, and 1% at the outdoor which revealed a statistically significant difference (p< 0.05). 91.4% of the women had used petroleum as a substance for burning which was significantly different with other substances (p<0.05). 60% of the victims put their spouse in charge of the main cause for their attempts to self- burning with a statistically significant difference with other causes (p<0.05).

Married women who attempted to burn their lives were young wives from low socioeconomic status living in a traditional environment. Time and place of the burning showed that they attempt suicide more likely while they are doing daily routines.