LAUSR

On 11 June 2020, a private university student (aged 22 years) and his mother (aged 47 years) from Bogra, Bangladesh, committed suicide together by ingesting poisonous gas tablets in a forest close to where they both lived (The Daily Campus 2020). The day before the suicides, the student’s father insisted that his son complete online tests because he had arranged for a broadband connection. However, the son was determined to do the tests on campus. Consequently, a huge argument between the father and son ensued and the son felt oppressed by his father. Later that evening, the son’s parents had further arguments about the situation. As a result of the arguments, the mother and son engaged in a suicide pact and killed themselves the next day after the father had left for work (The Daily Campus 2020). The term “suicide pact” usually refers to simultaneous suicides of two or more individuals of close relationship with a similar motive (Griffiths and Mamun 2020; Prat et al. 2013). This event is rare (i.e., accounts for less than 1% of the total suicides; Part et al., 2013). Most suicide pact victims are married couples, socially isolated, and often there is a serious physical illness in one or both partners (Griffiths and Mamun 2020; Prat et al. 2013). However, suicide pacts among couples reported during the COVID-19 pandemic have not followed this typical pattern (Griffiths and Mamun 2020), and the present case appears to be the first suicide pact involving son and his mother. The reasons underlying COVID-19-related suicide pacts previously reported include (i) fear of COVID-19 infection, (ii) financial problems, (iii) being socially boycotted by others, and (iv) not being able to return home from abroad (Griffiths and Mamun International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00362-5