Dear Editor, Self-immolation, or suicide attempted by burning, is one of the most devastating methods of suicide, with up to a seventy percent fatality rate (1). Evidence suggests that young married females who are deprived and illiterate are most prone to committing self-immolation, especially in the Middle Eastern countries (2), India (3), andSri Lanka (4).

1. Background India as the origin of records of self-burning (1) has witnessed different types of this act (2). According to Hindu mythology, Sati who married Shiva in opposition to her father’ s wishes was the first woman committed self-immolation (3). Moreover, the self-immolation of a Hindu widow on the funeral pyre of her husband which is called suttee (sati) is an historical forbidden example (3). It would be important to find out how such stories would travel by means of literacy to other countries. Therefore, the aim of the present article is to highlight how a suttee story has travelled from India to Iran during the 16th century by the poem and was depicted in a book. . . .

Objective: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of self-immolation epidemiology and characteristics in Iran. Methods: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis study. PubMed, Scopus, Web of science and Science Direct were searched for English literature and SID and Magiran for Persian in the time period of 2000 to 2016. The retrieved studies were screened and reviewed then quality assessed. Random Effect model was applied for meta-analysis. The qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis method. Results: After literature screening, 39 studies included in the analysis. Women were subject to self-immolation more than men. The rate of self-immolation estimated to be 4. 5 cases in every 100, 000 populations and it was the reason of 16% of hospitalized burns. The average length of hospital stay calculated to be 12. 24 (95% CI: 8. 85-15. 59) days. The total burnt surface area was 65. 3% (95% CI: 56. 71-73. 89). Death due to self-immolation was 62. 1%. The major risk factors of self-immolation were having mental health issues, family problems and characteristics and problems in relation/communication with spouses. Conclusion: Despite the low rate of self-immolation in Iran, it comprises one sixth of the hospitalized burns. The mortality rate of self-immolation also is high and this highlights the importance of providing special care. Psychological consultations and mental health screening in the primary health care would help to prevent the self-immolation.

Background: Self-immolation is a high risk behavior and a way of life termination. Self-immolation, as the most painful of all forms of suicide, is not a common form of suicide in European countries. However, it is highly prevalent in developing countries particularly in Asia and Africa.Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the rate and leading factors of self-immolation and gender, geographical distribution, and social norms of affected patients referred to Khatamolanbia Hospital of Zahedan from March 2010 to May 2012.Materials and Methods: This descriptive and objective-based study was cross-sectional and retrospective with 750 burn patients, 315 of them had attempted self-immolation and most of them died. The data collection tool was a two partite questionnaire consisting of 17 questions (8 questions about personal details and 9 questions about self-immolation factors).Results: 350 self-immolations resulting in death were reported in this study, these subjects were 16-25 years old, 67.25% female, 63.55% elementary school education, 74.20% married, 69.10% housewife, 61.05% resident of Saravan, 93.35% oil burns, 72.30% middle and low social class, 90.20% burn over 68%, 20% psychiatric illness history and being treated with antidepressants, 73.25% verbal and physical violence before burning, and 100% of the burnings took place inside a house and usually during the afternoon.Conclusions: Due to the high rate of self-immolations in this area, solutions for improvement of life quality and social norms should be reviewed and implemented.

Objective: Although in international studies, it has been reported to be the sixth most common method of suicide, self-Immolation is reported to be one of the most common methods of suicide in Iran. The aimed of this study was to determine the psychological characteristics of those patients who attempted suicide by setting themselves on fire in Kermanshah.Methods: In a cross-sectional study in 2003, 227 in-patients who had attempted self-immolation were screened out for mental illness. One hundred and ninety seven of them were subsequently assessed psychologically by using DSM-IV criteria.Results: Eighty one and half percent of the patients were female with a mean age of 27.1. The majority of the patients were married and unemployed. Twenty one percent of the patients had a history of chronic physical illness and 59.9% a history of depression. Somatoform disorders were detected in 36.5% of the cases and substance misuse in 7.5%. There was a 17.6% past history of deliberate self-harm in the patients and 20% in the family members. Suicide by self-burning had been precipitated by marital conflicts in 33.9% of the cases and by family conflicts in 23.2%. There was a high rate of mortality among the patients (50.2%). Conclusion: Although most of the risk factors for suicide in our population were similar to what is already known in the literature, we found that married women in Kermanshah province were particularly at higher risk of killing themselves by the method of self immolation.