Wednesday March 19, 2025
People gather outside Berbera General Hospital at night as medical staff attend to emergency cases.
Berbera (HOL) — A young man and woman in Berbera attempted suicide on Tuesday in separate incidents, adding to growing concerns over a wave of love-related tragedies in the city.
Ali Mohamed Abdalle, a local resident, ingested poison after a dispute with a woman he had been involved with. Witnesses rushed him to Berbera General Hospital, where he remains under intensive care.
In a separate incident, Saado, a woman who resided at the home of Kawsar—a central figure in a recent self-immolation case—attempted to hang herself but was rescued by bystanders. Journalist Liban Janaale told Horyaal TV that she was saved in time, though she has not spoken since.
“I was among the people who untied the rope. That’s how she survived. She is between 20 and 22 years old, but her mother told us she has not spoken since the incident,” Janaale said.
These events follow the March 15 case of Mohamed Jama Gahnug, a young man who set himself on fire and later died after his parents refused to allow him to marry a woman he had fallen in love with—a colleague from work.
The incidents have sparked widespread discussion on social media and in public spaces, with many questioning the social and cultural pressures surrounding love and marriage in Somali society.
Berbera, a city known for its association with tragic love stories, has long been linked to Cilmi Ismail Liban, known as Elmi Boodhari, a Somali poet who reportedly died of heartbreak in 1941 after his love for a woman was left unfulfilled.
