Internet group suicides almost doubled in '05
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Ninety-one people committed suicide in groups after meeting each other via the Internet last year, up from 55 in 2004, the National Police Agency said Thursday, prompting Internet service providers to pass on details to the police about people who post suicide messages online.
According to the NPA, the number of Internet-related group suicides increased to 34 in 2005, up by 15 cases from the previous year. People in their 20s accounted for about 40 percent of these group suicides, or 38 people, while eight people were aged between 10 and 19.
According to the NPA, among the 91 suicides, 54 were men. Thirty-three people were in their 30s and nine were in their 40s.
The 91 suicides also included one person aged in the 50s and one in the 60s.
In December, four people aged between 20 and 39 were found dead in a car parked at a vacant lot in Hyogo Prefecture after an apparent group suicide. The four people, who came from Hyogo, Ibaraki and Osaka prefectures, died of carbon monoxide poisoning after lighting a charcoal burner in the car.
In two cases, messages seeking people for a group suicide were posted on the Internet, to which four people responded. Of the four, two people were taken into protective custody.
(Feb. 10, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060210TDY01005.htm
Most of them were jobless men.